San Joaquin County
Biographies
LORENZO D. WAKEFIELD
LORENZO D. WAKEFIELD was born
in Brownfield, Oxford
County, Maine, July 27, 1833. He lived in Maine till nineteen years of age, up to which time he made
his home with his parents. August 30, 1852, he started for California, landing in San
Francisco
October 6. Like so many others, he went to the mines at Jamestown, where he stayed that winter and the following
spring. March 20 he came to Stockton and hired out to a man named Hamilton, driving teams and carrying freight from Stockton to the various mining camps. He continued that
business for five or six years; while engaged in the business he encountered
many hardships peculiar to the early days in this country. When the Fraser
river excitement broke out he was one of those that went there and did a little
prospecting, but, finding that it was mostly a humbug, he stayed but a short
time, then returned to Stockton. He next turned his attention to raising cattle, at
which he was engaged for two years. Again he commenced teaming, going over the
mountains to Virginia City, Gold Hill and other places out on the plains. In
1864 he made his first purchase of land, 160 acres in township 2 north, range 6
east, which he still owns. For five or six years he farmed near Modesto, where he and his brother, C. H. Wakefield, were in
partnership for fourteen or fifteen years. In November, 1873, he moved to his
present place, containing at first 160 acres, but now 880 acres, lying mostly
in the above-mentioned township. He is one of the leading farmers in this
section. For the past two years he has been running one of the improved
combined harvesters.
He is a member of Truth Lodge, No. 55, I.
O. O. F., of Stockton.
Mr. Wakefield was married in 1873 to Miss
Susan M. Stickeye, a native of the same place that he came from. They have a
family of four children - three sons and one daughter; they have also lost one
son. Mr. Wakefield was in California twenty years before being married, then returned
East, where he was married. He made another trip East in 1879.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 308-309. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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