Register of the Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers, 1891-1910
Processed by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by
Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
© 1998
University Library, University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2810
URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Register of the Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers, 1891-1910
Collection number: Mss113
Holt-Atherton Department of Special CollectionsUniversity Library
University of the Pacific
- Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
- University Library, University of the Pacific
- Stockton, CA 95211
- Phone: (209) 946-2404
- Fax: (209) 946-2810
- URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
- Processed by:
- Don Walker
- Date Completed:
- March 10, 1994
- Encoded by:
- Don Walker
© 1998 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Title: Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers,
Date (inclusive): 1891-1910
Collection number: Mss113
Creator:
Hugh E. Hayes
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers, Mss113, Holt-Atherton
Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Roley E. Wilhoit was born in Illinois (1830) and came across the plains to California
during the gold rush (1850). He mined for a time, then settled in Stockton (1852) where
he labored for nine years as a teamster, forming the partnership of Bostwick & Wilhoit.
During 1861 Wilhoit was elected county recorder. He held this post until 1868, at which
time he began an abstract, conveyancing and real estate business. Wilhoit was a member of
the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors for six years (1872-1878), president of the
county school board, and, a director (1875-1909), and later president (1909-1917) of the
Stockton Savings and Loan Society. He was also active in the Society of San Joaquin
Pioneers. In 1886 Wilhoit's two sons, George E. and Eugene, joined him in his abstract &
title and insurance business. Both sons married daughters of wealthy pioneer landowners.
These connections gave rise to the land development firm of Woods, Wilhoit & Douglass
which worked during the early years of the present century to develop the southernmost
delta islands for agricultural use. At his death, Roley E. Wilhoit was arguably the
wealthiest, most powerful man in Stockton (1922).
The four ledgers in this collection record Roley E. Wilhoit's various business
transactions between January 1891 and January 1902. During these years, Wilhoit sold
insurance, bought, sold and rented San Joaquin county real estate, operated farms, lent
money, and sold stock in various entities, including: a dredging company; gas wells; the
Pioneer Hall Association; the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank; the Stockton Land Loan &
Building Assn.; and, the Stockton Savings & Loan Assn. Wilhoit did business with most of
the well-known citizens of Stockton. Among the names found in these ledgers are those of
Thomas Cunningham (for many years San Joaquin County Sheriff), G.A. Shurtleff (Director,
Stockton State Hospital), the Shippee family (Stockton Harvester Mfg. Co.), the Woods
family (Lodi agriculture), the Roberts family (Roberts Island agriculture), the Sperry
family (Sperry Mills)and the Sargent family (northern San Joaquin County and Delta
agriculture). These volumes provide what is possibly the most complete and detailed
picture of the economic life of Stockton and San Joaquin county during the 1890s. The
collection also contains a cashbook of the Woods, Wilhoit & Douglass Co. (1906-10).
Container List
Box 1: Roley E. Wilhoit Business Records, 1891-1910
VOLUME 1: JANUARY 1, 1891-MAY 1, 1894
VOLUME 2: MAY 1, 1894-JANUARY 1, 1898
VOLUME 3: JANUARY 1, 1898-JANUARY 1, 1902
VOLUME 4: WOODS, WILHOIT & DOUGLASS CASH BOOK, 1906-1910