San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HAROLD A. WALKER
Not everyone filling a position of
responsibility enjoys the confidence accorded Harold A. Walker, foreman for the
Pacific Gas & Electric Company at Stockton, who is in charge of the
sub-station and the operation of high-tension lines, and has the good-will of
both employer and employee. He was born
at San Jose on April 26, 1886, the son of Pitt M. Walker, a native of Alameda
County, California, and the grandson of Jared Tuttle Walker, a native of
Michigan, who crossed the Great Plains in 1850, and was one of the pioneer
miners in the Mother Lode district, trying his luck throughout San Joaquin
County on his way to the southern mines.
In 1860 he located near Irvington, in Alameda County, and soon made a
reputation as a raiser of fine horses.
He owned the Nutwood Stock Farm at Irvington,
and also engaged in a warehouse business there.
He was one of the Vigilance Committee of Alameda County which warred
upon the cattle and horse thieves infesting that district, and he also belonged
to the Old Mission Peak Lodge of Masons, of Irvington, one of the first lodges
of Masons to be formed in the state.
Harold A. Walker first attended school
in the country districts of Calaveras Valley, and then he continued his studies
at the well-equipped San Jose high school.
He took up by himself the study of electrical engineering, and entered
the employ of the Standard Electrical Company of San Francisco. Later this company was merged with the Bay
Counties Electric Company under the name of the California Gas & Electric
Company, and it is now known as the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. He at first commenced work with the traveling
maintenance crew, with headquarters at San Jose, and he was then advanced to
the operating end, and connected with the sub-station and steam plants. For the next eight years he was load
dispatcher in the Oakland office in charge of operations in the power plants,
sub-station and transmission service, a position corresponding, in a general
way, to that of train dispatcher on the steam railroad. In 1917 he was called to Stockton to take
charge of new business, estimating line extensions, etc., and later, as a mark
of the confidence of the company in his ability and fidelity, he was advanced
to his present position. He has made
good, and proven the correctness of his judgment in seeking this field as his
life vocation. Naturally he is a member
of the National Electric Light Association of America.
At Oakland, California, in the year
1912, Mr. Walker was married to Miss Edna J. Lange, of Napa, and their home has
been blessed with two children: Dorothy
and Madeline.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1187. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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