San
Joaquin County
Biographies
EDWARD VAN VRANKEN
Equipped with a fine legal training,
and fortified with the virile experience of an artillery officers three years
on our borders and overseas in the World War, Edward Van Vranken, district
attorney of San Joaquin County, needs little introduction to northern
Californians. He was born on July 11,
1876, in Marysville, Yuba County, California, the son of Eber
and Maggie (Schmidtler) Van Vranken, the former
having been born in the state of New York, while the mother was born in
Luxembourg, and grew up in Wisconsin, where she came with her parents as a
child. Mr. and Mrs. Van Vranken were
married in California. The father was a
gold miner at first, coming to California in 1852, but later he became a
successful farmer and stockman.
Edward attended the Brothers’ School
in Oakland and later the public grammar schools, graduating from the Washington
Grammar School near Clements, San Joaquin County, in June, 1894, having come to
San Joaquin County with his parents when he was ten. In 1895 he left San Joaquin Business College
after a year’s tuition and entered Hon. Frank H. Smith’s law office in Stockton
as a student. He was admitted to the bar
January 15, 1906, and a year later he entered active practice, for twelve
months with O. B. Parkinson, and then alone until 1909, when he entered a
partnership with John E. Budd, which terminated in January, 1911, when he was
appointed deputy district attorney of San Joaquin County.
On March 22, 1909, Mr. Van Vranken
was appointed prosecuting attorney for the city of Stockton, completing the
term of M. J. Henry, who resigned. As a
young man our subject had served as a deputy in the county clerk’s office and
in 1908 and again in 1910 he was named secretary of the Republican County Central
Committee. Nearly three years of strenuous
life were devoted to war service, from June 18, 1916, to May 13, 1919. As captain of Battery C, 1st
California Field Artillery, he served during the Mexican trouble being
stationed at Nogales, Arizona, on the border, in summer and fall. On July 3, 1917, his battery was ordered to
the Presidio, San Francisco, for World War service, and was merged into the
143d Field Artillery, U.S.A. In the
summer of 1917 he was commissioned major of the second battalion, 143d Field
Artillery. While the second battalion
was being trained at Arcadia, near Los Angeles, he was camp commander, also
having a detachment of infantry under him.
In October, 1917, he went to Camp Kearney. In July, 1918, with a detachment of field
artillery officers he proceeded to Camp Mills, New York, and embarked on a
transport August 5, reaching France, via Liverpool, Southampton and Havre on
August 16. He remained some weeks in Meucon, near Vannes, France, in
the Officers’ Training School, then at De Souge, near
Bordeaux, where he rejoined his outfit.
In November, 1918, he was transferred to the 323d Field Artillery, 32d
Division, and with the Army of Occupation proceeded to
Coblenz on the Rhine. He was in command
of the second battalion, and later of the first battalion. He was on duty in Germany until May, 1919,
reaching New York on May 13. He obtained
honorable discharge at the Presidio at San Francisco, June 21, 1919.
On July 8, 1919, Mr. Van Vranken was
named district attorney by the board of supervisors to fill the unexpired term
of Charles Light, who had died in office.
One of the cases which he tried as district attorney, which attracted
much attention, was that of nineteen men indicted by the Grand Jury for
criminal utterances against the Government.
Four of these were tried, Mr. Van Vranken personally handling the first
case, C. F. Bentley, who was convicted.
The other three were tried by the deputy district attorney J. Le Roy
Johnson and were also convicted.
Mr. Van Vranken is past president of
Stockton parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West, Past Noble Grand of Truth
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and a member of the Elks, Moose, American Legion and the
Anteros Club. His marriage united him
with Miss Colette Laumeister, who was born in
Stockton and comes of a family of pioneers.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1231. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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