San Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES H. WAKEFIELD
CHARLES H. WAKEFIELD.--The
men who have come to the front in California have in every instance been men of
great energy of character, who would not permit themselves to be deterred by
any difficulty, and who invariably pushed on with a confident heart. They are
nearly all self-made men, also, who have begun with little or nothing, and have
proven their worthiness by their success. As a natural result their lives have
usually been eventful ones, embracing much more than the ordinary interest, and
hence we feel not the least hesitation in entering fully into the history of a
man who came to California in the early times. Such a man is Charles H. Wakefield,
the subject of this sketch.
He is a native of Oxford County, Maine, and is a son of George and Eliza (Clark) Wakefield, both of whom were natives of the same State. Mr.
Wakefield’s mother died October 24, 1879, at the age of seventy-four years,
while his father survived her until 1887, when he died at the age of
eighty-three. They were the parents of six children, five sons and one
daughter, of whom one, L. D. Wakefield, is a prominent resident of San Joaquin County, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Our subject was born on May 7, 1838. He
stayed at home until he was about nineteen years old, during which time his
education was received at the district schools of his neighborhood, with the
exception of about three months’ schooling received elsewhere. The first trip
he ever made out of his native State was in the fall of 1857, when he went
West. He spent about two years in Minnesota and Wisconsin, after which he returned to his home in Maine, and after visiting his parents and relatives there,
he started for the Pacific coast. He sailed from New York, November 21, 1859, on board the steamer Northern Light, for Panama, where he changed steamers, and in due time reached San Francisco, after a voyage of twenty-one days and fifteen hours
from the time of leaving New York,
which was then one of the quickest passages that had been made. Our subject did
not tarry long in the great metropolis, but came up to Stockton, and from there up into Calaveras County, where his brother, L. D. Wakefield, was then living.
The latter was quite largely engaged in the stock business, and as soon as
Charles arrived the two brothers formed a co-partnership, which they continued
up to the fall of 1873. In 1861 Charles turned his attention to teaming, and
soon after that the great gold excitement broke out in Nevada, when he
commenced making trips over the mountains, going to almost all of those mining
towns, which business for a while was a very profitable one, up to the time the
railroad was completed through that country, when teaming rapidly began to go
down. The brothers were together in this business, as well as in the raising of
stock, and remained in that country up to 1865, when they closed out their
stock interest and carried on teaming altogether up to about 1867. During this
time they would winter at different places, sometimes on their little farm in Calaveras County, and then again would run into Stockton and put up there.
About 1865 they came to San Joaquin to live. The first land they owned here now forms a part of L. D.
Wakefield’s place. When they turned their attention to farming, the operated
quite extensively, the heaviest of it being carried on in Stanislaus County,
where they went in 1867, and where our subject was interested up to 1874, they
at one time farming as high as 3,000 acres. In the fall of 1873 he bought and
moved upon the place where he now lives and has since resided. The home place
contains in the neighborhood of 340 acres, which was obtained in two different
purchases. It is situated on what is known as the Frost and Leach road, or the
county road running from the Eight-Mile House, on Cherokee Lane, to the upper
Sacramento road, and is one of our most highly-improved farms, which certainly
is an object of pride to San Joaquin County, and a tribute to the cultured
taste and refinement of its owner in fitting up so beautiful a home. The landed
possessions of Mr. Wakefield in this county amount to something over 500 acres,
all of which is excellent grain land. Our subject has always taken a great
interest in the welfare of the county, and anything that he could bestow on
what he thought would be for the public good has always met with his favor. In
political matters he has taken more or less an active interest. He is a
Republican from principle, and has often been a member of the county
conventions, and on one or two occasions has been a delegate to the State
conventions.
He was united in marriage, in November,
1869, to Mary E. Hoenshell, daughter of Abraham Hoenshell, an old settler of
this county. Mrs. Wakefield is a native of Pennsylvania, where she was brought up to the age of twelve, when she came to this
State with her parents. She is a lady of most excellent worth, and a valuable
member of society circles. The Wakefield family have never been together since they first
separated. There are now only three of them left; the one besides the two in
this county, is George W. Wakefield, a deaf mute, and the youngest of the
family. He was the only one to remain at home before the death of his parents;
obtained a finished education, and is still residing on the old home place.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 366-367. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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