San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM B. WOLLAM
A resident of San Joaquin County
since 1875, where he has made an enviable record for honesty and integrity of
purpose is William B. Wollam, a Civil War veteran, who was born in Cincinnati,
Ohio, June 6, 1836. His father,
Ratchford Duffield Wollam, who was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, was a
contractor. He married Sarah Watson, a
native of London, England, who came with her parents to America, having
suffered shipwreck on the trip across the Atlantic. In 1856 the elder Wollam removed to St. Paul,
where he followed contracting and building, erecting some of the large business
houses of those days. The mother died in
St. Paul, but the father returned to New York, where he spent his last days. They had a family of four sons and four
daughters and all four of the sons, John, Ford, Harry and William B., served in
the Civil War.
As a boy William B. lived in
Cincinnati and in Jackson, Ohio, where he received a good education in the
local schools. At the age of seventeen
he left home to earn his own livelihood, going to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he
learned the carpenter’s trade. In 1856
he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, working at his trade until 1858, and then
returned to Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1862
Mr. Wollam volunteered in Company D, 117th Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
serving as quartermaster-sergeant until he was transferred to Company D, First
Ohio Heavy Artillery, in which he served until he was honorably discharged in
Knoxville, Tennessee, on July 25, 1865.
On December 25, 1865, at
Chillicothe, Ohio, Mr. Wollam was married to Miss Annie I. McDougal, born in
that place, after which he engaged in contracting and building in that city
until 1875; then he came to California, locating in Stockton, and here he
followed contracting off and on for twenty-three years, establishing a
successful reputation for building tanks and tank houses. In 1886 he purchased a lot on North Argonaut
Street and built the residence in which he still resides. He was bereaved of his faithful wife August
27, 1918, a woman much loved and esteemed by all who knew her. She was a devout Methodist and active in the
W. R. C. They were blessed with eight
children: Rowena, Mrs. F. E. Goodell of Stockton; Georgia, Mrs. W. J. Sharp, presides
over her father’s home; her two sons served in the World War; Lloyd-Keyes Sharp
served ten months overseas, and Norman Sharp served in the U. S. N. R. F. and
was stationed at Goat Island; Ratchford D. lives in Oakland; he served as a
lieutenant in the Spanish-American War in the Sixth California Regiment; Delia
C. is the wife of Blendin Campbell, a celebrated
artist in New York City; Percy V. lives at Pt. Angeles, Washington; William
also served in the Spanish-American War and while a member of the 17th
U. S. Regulars, serving in the Philippines with others of his command they were
ambushed and he was killed; Dell J. also lives in Pt. Angeles, Washington; Mrs.
Ada Forester is deceased.
In 1878 Mr. Wollam became a member of
the Volunteer Fire Department in Stockton as a member of Weber Engine Company
No. 1; he served many years, the last three years as foreman of the company, up
until the pay department was instituted.
He is now vice-president of the Exempt Firemen.
Mr. Wollam has been an Odd Fellow
since 1867, being a member of Truth Lodge, Stockton, as well as the
Encampment. He is a member of Rawlins
Post No. 23, G. A. R., Department of California and Nevada, and of Rawlins
Chapter, W. R. C., and Roosevelt Circle, Ladies of the G. A. R. He is also a member of the Daughters of
Veterans, an honorary member of the Spanish-American War Veterans. He attends the Department Encampments as well
as many of the National Encampments. Mr.
Wollam’s life is guide by the Golden Rule, to which
he strictly adheres.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
759. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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