San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CLARENCE L. WOODS
An enterprising rancher who devotes
his energies to the cultivation and raising of grapes
is Clarence L. Woods, his vineyard being located four and a half miles
northwest of Woodbridge, and containing twenty-four acres. He was born on the old Samuel Woods ranch
near Woodbridge, in the northern part of San Joaquin County, August 31, 1883, a
son of Samuel and Francis Arline (Plummer) Woods,
natives of Missouri and Iowa, respectively.
Samuel Woods as born at Hannibal, Missouri, July 14, 1841, and was a son
of Samuel M. and Elizabeth (Leffler) Woods, the
former a native of Virginia and of Scotch extraction, and the latter a native
of Pennsylvania of German stock. When
the father, Samuel Woods, was ten years old, in 1852, the family left Missouri
and after a trip across the plains lasting some six months arrived in
California; thus the grandfather of our subject became a typical California
pioneer. During the winter of 1853 he
conducted the old-time Western Hotel at Stockton, and in 1856 was proprietor of
the hotel at Pleasant Grove, and from 1857 until his death in 1880, he was
engaged in ranching on the old Samuel M. Woods ranch near Woodbridge. The father became the owner of the old
homestead ranch, consisting of 320 acres, devoted to grain and stockraising, of which forty acres was in vineyard. Samuel Woods married Miss Francis Arline Plummer, and they were the parents of four
children: Clarence L., of this review;
his twin sister, Clara, the wife of Scott McDonald; Mrs. Rita Borden of San
Jose; Evelyn, Mrs. W. H. Sparling of Capitola, California. The father passed away March 16, 1915, and
the mother on April 10, 1922.
Clarence L. Woods received his
education at the Ray district school of San Joaquin
County, which was supplemented with a course at the Stockton Business
College. In 1909 he started out for
himself and began work as a machinist with the Western Pacific Railroad Company in Stockton, and also worked
for them in the shops at Oakland and Sacramento for four years; then for six
years he was employed on the construction of the County and State highways as
roller-man; then in 1919 he settled on his present ranch four miles northwest
of Woodbridge, consisting of twenty-four acres, which was planted to grapes of
the Tokay, Black Prince and Zinfandel varieties, now in full bearing.
On October 23, 1915, at Oakland Mr.
Woods was married to Miss Edna Anglin, also a native
of California, born at Pittville, Shasta County, and
a daughter of Elmer E. and Margaret Susan (Baker) Anglin,
the former a native of Oregon and the latter of Pennsylvania. Grandfather Joshua Thomas Anglin
was a native of Tennessee and a veteran of the Mexican and Indian wars. He left home at the age of fourteen and
joined the army, and never returned to his home in Tennessee, but migrated
westward. About seventy years ago he
settled in the Hood River country of Oregon; in 1866 he moved to California and
farmed at Dixon; later he removed to Shasta County, where he died. Mrs. Woods is one of four children: Willard resides at Ione, California; May,
Mrs. Richardson, a resident of Westwood; Mrs. Edna Woods; Tracy resides at
Ione. Mrs. Woods received her education
in the grammar schools of Shasta County, and when eighteen years old came to
Stockton, where she entered the Western Normal, and then became a teacher. She taught one year at Red Bluff, California,
then two years at Coalinga, California, and two years at the Ray school in San
Joaquin County, where she met and married Mr. Woods. They are the parents of three children: Samuel, Margaret and Edith Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Woods are Democrats and Mrs.
Woods is a member of the school board of the Ray district.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1528. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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