San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CLARENCE VAN TIL
Among the more recent acquisitions
to the contracting and building industry of the Ripon section of San Joaquin
County, is Clarence Van Til, who located in this section of the county in 1919,
where he purchased a ranch and other valuable real estate. He was born in Gronigen,
Holland, June 18, 1891, a son of Ite Van Til, a native of the same place and a farmer all his
lifetime. The family, consisting of
father, mother, seven girls and two boys, left their native land in 1903 and
arrived at Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 15, the same year. In the fall of 1903 the father and two sons
located on a farm near Ellsworth, Michigan, where the family resided for a
number of years. Clarence was denied the
privilege of attending school but a short time, but the knowledge gained by
experience, has proved of inestimable value to him in subsequent years. At eighteen years of age he left home and
became an apprentice to learn the carpenter’s trade at Holland, Michigan, where
he worked for one year; then he worked for a contractor for fifteen months,
receiving for his work one dollar per day, but out of this saved enough money
to return to his home on a visit. In
1911 he went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he worked at his trade for two
years. With the money that he was able
to save from his two years work, he removed to Denver, Colorado, but one year
later returned to Grand Rapids, where he did his first contract work, erecting
five residences for J. Van Polen, who later became his father-in-law. Our subject’s mother passed away at the
family home at Ellsworth, Michigan, during February, 1905.
On April 5, 1917, at Denver,
Colorado, Mr. Van Til was married to Miss Sena Van Polen, born September 7, 1890, in Feerwerd,
province of Gronigen, Holland, a daughter of Jacob and
Margaret (Jongsma) Van Polen,
both natives of Friesland, Holland.
Jacob Van Polen was a successful merchant in Grand Rapids for
twenty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Van Til
are the parents of one daughter, Gertrude Nellie, born at Ripon, July 16,
1920. Mr. Van Til continued his contract
work in Colorado until his removal to California in 1919, working in Denver,
Seibert and Cope, Colorado, where he erected many residences and some business
blocks. In Cope, Colorado, he erected
the bank building and a $10,000 residence for the president of the bank; he
also improved a small ranch in the vicinity of Seibert, Colorado. He then sold his property in Colorado and
removed to California, locating at Ripon and during his three years residence
in this section has been active in building.
Some of the buildings which he has erected are the Calla district school
building, costing $14,000; the Riverbank school costing $24,000; the New Hope
and Thornton school buildings. In 1922
Mr. Van Til was awarded the contract for the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds
Association, the construction work amounting to $64,000. Mr. Van Til’s
partner in his contracting work is L. Ubels, who has
been doing contracting and building work in San Joaquin County for the past
four years. Mr. Van Til has erected a
fine residence in Ripon, where he resides with his wife and daughter, and the family are active members of the Christian Reformed Church.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1510. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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