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Register of the Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers,
1891-1910
Mss113
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Title: Roley E. Wilhoit Business Ledgers,
Date (inclusive): 1891-1910
Collection number: Mss113
Creator:
Hugh E. Hayes
Extent: 1 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).