San
Joaquin County
Biographies
LLOYD R. WOODHULL
An experienced, popular and
important representative of the famous Sperry Flour Company is Lloyd R.
Woodhull, in charge of their grain buying at Stockton. He was born at London, Ontario, Canada, on
July 2, 1891, and was for awhile in the employ of a wholesale firm
manufacturing clothing at London. In
October, 1910, he arrived at Stockton, and once landed here; he became
bookkeeper for the River Express Company, serving that concern from December,
1910, until May 15, 1911, when he entered the employ of the Sperry Flour
Company as timekeeper. He worked his way
up from the bottom, acting as shipping clerk, billing clerk, and bookkeeper;
and then, under the leadership of George R. McLeod, he became buyer for the
company. When Mr. McLeod resigned as
head of the buying department, he was appointed in his place in the spring of
1922, a post of much responsibility, indeed one of the best at the disposal of the
widely-known flour firm.
In 1915 at Stockton, Mr. Woodhull
married Miss Alice Ridenour, a native of Stockton, whose parents came to that
city many years ago as pioneers and so deserve the lasting gratitude of all
coming after and profiting by their sacrifices and self-denials. In April, 1918, he entered the World War as a
private in Company K, 364th Infantry, 91st Division, with
which he was sent overseas, and served with it in all of its many and fierce
engagements until the end of the war.
The 91st Division stands out conspicuously in the annals of
the American divisions as a fighting organization. Complete in every detail, it traveled further
from its home base than any other division and it did as much actual fighting
as any other national army division, and much more than many. The officers were all from California,
Washington and Oregon, and the enlisted men were gathered from all the far
western states and from Alaska. A green
fir tree was adopted as the shoulder insignia to be worn by the members. The division began intensive training as soon
as it was formed, and on June 19, 1918, it received its orders and set out for
overseas. The last units of the division
arrived in France on July 26, 1918, and left their training area on September
6, 1918; and from September 11 to 14 it constituted a part of the reserve of
the St. Mihiel offensive. From there it
moved to the northwest of Verdun, where it took an active part in the
Meuse-Argonne offensive. On September 26
it advanced from west of Avecourt to north of Gesnes, and continued in the offensive until October 6,
when the greater part of the troops retreated to the Nattancourt
area. On October 19, the division went
under the command of the King of the Belgians; and from October 31 to November
4 took part in the Lys-Scheldt offensive west of the Escault
(Scheldt) River, in the vicinity of Audenrade. Later, the 91st Division, of which
our subject was luckily such an honored member, took part in the ceremony which
marked the joyous return of the King and Queen of Belgium to the city of
Brussels; and after that it was moved to the Le Mans area; and during March and
April of 1919, the division embarked for the United States. Nineteen men of this division were awarded
the Distinguished Service Cross, but the majority of those who also did
meritorious things received no special reward for their faithful performance of
arduous duty.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1188. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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