San
Joaquin County
Biographies
LAUREN E. WILKINSON
A native son of San Joaquin County,
where he has spent his entire life, is Lauren E. Wilkinson, a representative
citizen of Lodi, engaged in the wholesale tobacco business. He was born near Elliott, San Joaquin County,
in the Telegraph school district, February 20, 1893. His father, Thomas Edgar Wilkinson, was born
in Grant County, Wisconsin, June 1, 1849, his parents being Thomas and Emma M.
(Carlow) Wilkinson, the former of English extraction. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas
Wilkinson, was born on the high seas during his parents’ journey to America on
April 29, 1809. He was reared in Albany,
New York, and in 1850 came to California, via Cape Horn, and for a time after
his arrival was engaged in gold mining; later he worked at his trade of
brick-laying, plastering, etc., making his home near Woodbridge, where his
death occurred on June 4, 1865.
The father of our subject, Thomas
Edgar Wilkinson, crossed the plains to California with ox-teams in 1861, with
his mother and other members of the family, joining the father in San Joaquin
County, and afterward the family took up their abode near Woodbridge. He was educated in the schools of San Joaquin
County and from the age of fourteen has made his own living. His fine homestead farm consisted of 160
acres of rich and productive land, all under cultivation, twenty acres of which
was devoted to vineyard, while the remainder was used for general farming; he
also owned 160 acres near Acampo. On August 31, 1873, he was married to Miss Clista Dustin, a native daughter of California born in San
Bernardino, February 14, 1855, and they had six children: Emma, Mrs. Albert Stokes; Evaline,
Mrs. C. F. West; Edgar; Ira Ivan; Lauren E., the subject of this sketch, and
Willis A., deceased. The father passed
away on August 31, 1917, at the age of sixty-eight, and the mother is still
living in Lodi. The father was a
Republican in politics and for several years was a member of the San Joaquin
County Republican Central Committee. For
ten years he served as deputy county assessor; for twelve years served as a
member of the board of trustees of the Telegraph school district, and for eight
years was road overseer of Liberty Township.
He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow, holding membership in the Woodbridge
lodges.
Lauren E. Wilkinson began his
education in the Telegraph district school, then entered the Lodi high school,
and after graduation entered the Heald’s Business College in Stockton. At twenty years of age he entered active
business life in Lodi, where he established a wholesale liquor and tobacco
business. Since the enforcement of the
Eighteenth Amendment, Mr. Wilkinson has conducted a wholesale tobacco store,
where he retails soft drinks. His business
has grown to such proportions that it requires two automobiles for
delivery. Mr. Wilkinson is also
interested in the cultivation of a vineyard, being the owner of a half interest
in forty acres four miles northwest of Woodbridge, the entire acreage being set
to Tokay grapes, on which is an adequate pumping plant for irrigation.
In October, 1911, in Stockton, Mr.
Wilkinson was united in marriage with Miss Hazel N. Le Moin,
born in Drytown, California, a daughter of George Le Moin. For many years
her father was a proprietor of a hotel and is now living, with his wife, in
Lodi, retired from active business cares.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson have one daughter, Winifred. Mr. Wilkinson is a Republican in politics and
fraternally is affiliated with the Native Sons and the Eagles, while Mrs.
Wilkinson belongs to the Eastern Star of Lodi.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
591. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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