San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRANK TUCKER
A progressive enterprise, which has
given the city increased commercial standing, is the building business of Frank
Tucker, who was born in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, on August 8,
1871. His father, Thomas J. Tucker, a
native of Maine, came to California via Panama in 1851, located in Tuolumne
County, where he engaged in mining at Shaw’s Flat; three years later he located
in Stockton and established the first brickyard and made the first bricks ever
made in Stockton; his yard was on the present site of the shipyards of the
California Navigation and Improvement Company on the north side of the Stockton
Channel. Clay for the making of brick
was taken from the waterfront; in 1864 he moved his plant to near what was
known as Goodwater Grove, now Oak Park, and continued there until 1882 when he
retired from brick making to engage in teaming.
He furnished the brick for the first court house erected in 1854 and for
many of the old buildings erected in early days, many of which are still
standing, among them being the old Holden Building; Odd Fellows Block; U. S.
Hotel and Russ House. He married Miss
Ellen Chatham, a native of Lancashire, England, and they were the parents of
three children, all living: John E.,
Frank, our subject, and Mrs. W. H. F. Schmacher of
Anaheim, California. Both parents died
in Stockton.
Frank received his education at St.
Mary’s College, Stockton, and learned the trade of brickmason with Confer
Brothers, working with them for five years, when he started for himself as a contractor
and builder, and many fine residences and buildings attest his ability, among
them the Wolf Block, the Simon Block, the Barnhart residence, and many others
in Stockton, as well as a number of fine brick residences in the country. For five years he covered a territory
including Fresno, Tracy, Merced and as far north as
Seattle, where he erected a number of brick blocks, his operations covering a
period from 1893 to the present time.
Other constructive work was the building of many residences in Stockton
for the purpose of disposing of them, thus building up a portion of Stockton
with first-class houses. He is
interested with other capitalists in a gold mine in Tuolumne County.
Mr. Tucker’s marriage united him
with Miss Mamie Fillippi, a native of Stockton and a member of a pioneer
family. Fraternally he is a member of
the Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. Elks, San Joaquin Lodge No. 19, F. &
A. M., Truth Lodge No. 55, I. O. O. F., and the Sciots.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1487-1488. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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