San Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES MILLER WELSH
J. M. WELSH, manager of the
Crown Mills, is a native of Dundee, Scotland, born in 1845, and son of a grain
and commission merchant. When he was but five years of age, the family came to
America, locating ten miles from the city of Toronto. There he was reared to the
age of eighteen years, then went to learn the milling trade. In 1868 he left
New York city, where he had been at work, and came to
California. Arrived in this State, he became engaged in the McCreary Mill at
Tehama, after which he went to the Antelope Mill at Red Bluff to assume control
of the mill of J. S. Cone (afterward railroad commissioner). From there he went
to Sacramento and had charge of McCreary’s Mill there until 1872. In that year
he received an advantageous offer to go to Oregon City to take charge of the
mills there. He accepted the proposition, and four years later he bought an
interest in the Eureka Mills at Walla Walla. The firm
then became Welsh & Co., his partners being Schwabacher
Bros., who are now interested with him in the Crown Mills. He was there until
November, 1881, when he went East, and in the spring
of 1882 came to Stockton, and the Crown Mills were built, with Schwabacher Bros., Balfour, Guthrie & Co. and J. M
.Welsh as proprietors, doing business under the corporate title of the Stockton
Milling Company. The history of this great
establishment is given in its proper place in this volume. Mr. Welsh has
managed the business of the Crown Mills with great ability, and their product
can compete with the world.
Mr. Welsh has taken an active
interest in public affairs here since he became identified with Stockton, and
in 1884 was elected Mayor of the city, being the first mayor under the new
charter. He served as Stockton’s chief executive three years and three months,
one year and three months in the first term, and two years in the second, being
succeeded by L. U. Shippee in 1887; and the city
never had a more popular official.
He is president of the Alta
Fire Insurance Company, and has been president of the Stockton Land, Loan &
Building Association since its organization. He is a member of Morning Star
Lodge, F. & A. M., and of the Chapter and Commandery
at Walla Walla; also of Truth Lodge, I. O. O. F., of
Stockton. He was married April 15, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Wheeler, a native of
New York. They have three children: Grace, Beatrice and Maude.
Mr. Welsh is one of Stockton’s
most prominent and energetic workers.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 474. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases