Summary History of the Locke family and Lockeford
Compiled by Peggy Ward Engh, president, Lockeford Historical Society
The Founder of the town: Dr. Dean Jewett Locke, born in New Hampshire in 1823, one of four sons of Luther and Hannah (Willard) Locke. Dr. Locke died May 4, 1887, at his home in Lockeford.
Education:
1844 Graduate of State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and taught after he graduated. One of his students was his future wife, Delia.
Attended HarvardMedicalSchool but did not graduate. Instead, came out to California during Gold Rush with Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association, a group of over 20 men. Left Boston for California on his 26th birthday, April 16, 1849, and arrived at Sutter’s FortSeptember 27, 1849.
Wife:Delia Marcella Hammond, born in Massachusetts in 1836. Oldest of the eight children of George and Susanna (Shaw) Hammond. George Hammond moved his family to Lockeford, California, in 1864. Delia’s sister Susie later married Dean J. Locke’s brother George S. and became the parents of ten children.
Marriage: They were married in Delia’s home town of North Abington, Massachusetts, on May 8, 1855. The marriage certificate still hangs at the Locke home. A neighbor, Mrs. D. J. Staples, commented dryly that he went back East to in 1855 to get a wig and a wife. As shown from his portrait taken in 1855 through the rest of his life, his “wig” never changed color even though his natural hair grew gray. After the wedding, Dean and Delia traveled to California with Dean’s father, Luther Locke. The newlyweds spent their first night together in the Lockeford area on July 1, 1855. Mrs. Locke kept a journal from 1847 until 1922, noting important events.
D. J. and Delia Locke Offspring: parents of thirteen accomplished children, seven boys and six girls, all of whom survived into adulthood. The children had responsibilities, either at home or in the store. All were taught by their father to swim and ride horseback and to be self-reliant.
Mary, the first child of the Locke to die, passed away at age 30.
Ada, Ida, and Eunice all became teachers, and Ada and Ida both married Congregational Church ministers.
Hannah graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, playing reed organ, later teaching music and tuning pianos.
Theresa became a nurse.
Willard and John Calvin both graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as civil engineers.
George H. graduated from University of California as a veterinary surgeon.
Horace M. graduated from HarvardMedicalSchool and, like his father, became a physician.
Luther became a wholesale and retail dealer in livestock and Lockeford meat market owner. His 1885 home and business building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Edward M. became a farmer and dairyman.
Nathaniel Howard became a teacher who later a farmer and dairyman whose descendants still farm parts of the original property purchased by Dr. Locke in 1850.
Daughters Hannah and Theresa spent most of their lives residing in the Locke Home in Lockeford. Hannah died in 1962 and Theresa in 1969.
The Locke home background:
In 1851, Dean J. Locke and his brother Elmer built a small cabin on Pioneer (or Yankee) Hill. Delia called it Oak Hill (now the site of the Stapelberg residence and the plaque commemorating Lockeford as a landmark). Elmer Locke, much beloved by Dean J. and Delia, died in 1858.
Dr. Locke and Delia built their first home together in 1855; the heavily remodeled structure still stands next to the 1865 Locke home. The site of the first home was first occupied by Delano (also spelled Delaney), an Indian chief of his tribe, which was a branch of the Plains Miwok California Indians. In 1855, his wife died, and he burned his lodge and all its effects, Delia Locke noting in her diary that, in his grief, he made a “doleful noise all the while.” He then abandoned the site, and Dr. and Mrs. Locke chose it for their first home.
The town was officially platted in January, 1862, by Dr. Locke and two associates.
After 6 children and ten years in the small home, D.J. and Delia begin from 1862 to 1865 to build the brick residence, which still stands today. A kiln was set up, the clay was locally extracted, and both Indian and Chinese workers were used. The tankhouse and an addition to the home were constructed in the 1880’s. In 1885, the Lockes moved the first home from its original location to its present location, basically from one side of the brick home to the other. Mrs. Locke writes, “The little old house, where our six older children were born, and where we lived together for ten years, walked off [was transported] today, drawn by a single mule, a few steps at a time, and is now stationed between us and the church, on the left side of the Avenue [Locust Avenue, now Elliott Road.] It is to be thoroughly renovated and fixed up for renting. It is now thirty years old, having been built in the summer and fall of ’55.”
Other Locke home improvements:
1895: A new piazza completed.
1904: Telephone installed in home. Delia comments that the “constant jingling is annoying “to her.
1904: New porcelain sink in kitchen “with open plumbing” to replace a huge iron one.
1905: Iron front placed over the bricks on upper porch to the top of the home. It was pressed to look like brick.
1908: Parts of interior re-painted, and all the woodwork re-varnished.
1911: Home wired for electricity. 1915: Wiring re-examined.
1912: Lawn light installed.
1917: New sleeping porch added.
Dr. Locke’s Contributions to Lockeford:
Dr. Locke contributed land for
The second and fourth schoolhouses in the area
The Methodist and Congregational Churches
He also
Brought the first post office to the town. His father Luther was the first Lockeford postmaster. (Two other men had previously served as postmasters in the region, but not in Lockeford.)
Obtained stagecoach service to the area in 1859.
Formed a navigation company to bring supplies to Lockeford area from San Francisco after heavy flooding in 1862 made roads impassable and washed bridges away.
Formed the Mokelumne River Improvement Company to clear away snags and sand bars in the river.
Constructed the Locke Warehouse (brick) and the Locke General Store (brick). Other commercial buildings he erected have long since been torn down.
Allowed the use the second floor of his granary –“Locke’s Hall”—to be used for meetings of
- the Mokelumne Light Dragoons (a Union sympathizing Civil War era military company formed by the State militia which performed in parades. Dr. Locke furnished cabinets which stored their equipment. The cabinets are still in the Locke home.)
- the Dashaways (a temperance group established in 1859) and later the Sons Of Temperance, Live Oak Division.
- The Congregational Church members
- Young Men’s Lyceum: boys who met to discuss and debate the “hot button” topics of the day.
Honors:
The entire town of Lockeford became a California Registered Historical Landmark in 1939. Two of the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
One of the Instructional Centers at San JoaquinDeltaCollege in Stockton is named for Dr. Locke.