Description
These documents all pertain to public lands in the central San Joaquin
Valley. Virtually all of them represent holdings in eastern Stanislaus and
Merced counties. Most date from the 1860s---the period of wheat cultivation and
railroad expansion in that region. With few exceptions they represent the
acquisitions of two men: Lewis M. Hickman and John W. Mitchell.
Background
A native of Delaware, L. M. Hickman spent much of his life in Stockton.
Hickman's name first appears in the Stockton Directory (1856), where he is
listed as operating a hardware store with H.D. Saunders. This firm, which was
located on Main Street between Hunter and El Dorado, sold cutlery, tin, copper,
sheet iron, stoves and miners' tools and performed "all kinds of job work done
at shortest notice." During the 1850s Hickman was a member of the Protection
Hook & Ladder #1 volunteer fire fighters. In 1857 he was a founding member
of the Stockton Episcopal Church.