DEAN JEWETT LOCKE . . . The name of Dean J. Locke is synonymous with many of the influences and movements that have had to do with the upbuilding of San Joaquin County, and his name has been perpetuated in the town which he founded and in which he made his home for nearly forty years, or until his death. He passed away in Lockeford May 4, 1887, at the comparatively early age of sixty-four years, mourned alike by old and young, all honoring and respecting him for his large accomplishments and loving him for his genial, kindly nature.

The records state that the Locke family is of English origin, and was established in the United States during colonial times by Deacon William Locke, of Woburn, Massachusetts. From him the line is traced to Calvin Locke,
who was born in Ashbury, New Hampshire, in 1765, and who in February, 1796, married Sarah Jewett. Their son Luther was born in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, in the latter part of the year 1796, and in that vicinity the greater part of his life was passed. Four children were born of this marriage with Hannah Willard, as follows: Luther Franklin, who graduated from Middlebury, Vermont, College, and also from Cambridge Medical College; Dean Jewett, Elmer Hall, and George S.

The second child in the paternal family, Dean Jewett Locke, was born April 16, 1823, at Langdon, Sullivan County, New Hampshire, where his father was a trader and owned a store in partnership with a brother. Dean Jewett received his early education in the schools of his native town. At the age of fourteen years he attended the academy at Langdon, paying his tuition by his services as janitor of the building, ringing the bell and keeping the fires supplied with wood through the long snowy winter time, and performing the same work for the people with whom he boarded, in payment for his board. Thus early in life he was engaged in earning his own living, with characteristic energy and determination. Later, in order that he might further pursue his studies, he taught school, beginning when he was seventeen years of age, at Tewksbury, Massachusetts. With the money which he had accumulated in this way he attended the first State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and after graduating from it, he taught in the high school of Pawtucket and Worcester, Massachusetts, until he entered Harvard College, graduating from the medical department of this institution in 1849. It had been his intention to settle in the east and follow his profession, but the discovery of gold in California during the year of his graduation turned his thoughts toward the Golden West instead. On April 16, 1849, he with a party of twenty-five friends started across the plains for California, the party being incorporated as the Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association. Dr. Locke served in the capacity of physician to the company and received his transportation in exchange for his services. Five months of weary marching finally brought the little party to their destination, Sacramento, where they arrived September 16, 1849. What is now one of the principal cities of the state and its capital as well, was at that time a settlement of tents and rudely constructed shacks. Here Dr. Locke practiced medicine for a short time, after which he went to the mines at Downieville, on the American River. It is safe to say that his anticipations as a miner were not realized, for he had been there only a short time when he gave up mining, and coming to San Joaquin County, took up a tract of land whereon is now located the town of Lockeford, having first paid a good price for it to the parties who
had purchased a pretended Spanish grant, and afterward being required to buy it from the government at the regulation price of $1.25 per acre. Dr. Locke settled on what was known as Yankee Hill just north of Lockeford in 1851, and maintained a ford across the Mokelumne River, to guard against quicksand in the summer; and during the winter time, when the river was too high to ford; he ran
a ferry boat across the river. Dr. Locke built the first house in Lockeford. After the town was started a name was needed; and as the ford across the river was called Locke's ford, at the suggestion of his wife the 's' was dropped and the town named Lockeford, which name it has since borne.

In 1854 Dean J. Locke returned east and on May 8, 1855, was united in marriage with Miss Delia M. Hammond, a native of North Abington, Massachusetts. The wedding journey of the young people brought them to Lockeford, California, July 1, 1855, and they set up housekeeping in a house which Dr. Locke erected in the autumn of that year. On their return from the east Dr. Locke and his wife were accompanied by the former’s father, Luther Locke, who became the first postmaster of the town in June, 1861, and who here rounded out his long and useful life, passing away in 1866, at the age of nearly seventy years. Thirteen children were born of the marriage of Dean J. Locke and his wife, named in the order of their birth as follows: Luther J.; Ada; Nathaniel Howard; Horace Mann; Ida; Mary, deceased; William Willard; Hannah; John Calvin, who passed away in Brooklyn, New York, and who was superintendent of street paving at the time of his demise; Edward Moore; Eunice; George Hammond; and Theresa. Mrs. Locke is living in Lockeford at the age of eighty-seven years. All of their children received an excellent education, for Dr. Locke was a staunch advocate of furnishing the younger generation with good school advantages, and as a member of the board of education of the town he was able to accomplish considerable along this line. None of her citizens were more public-spirited or philanthropic than was Dr. Locke, whose greatest happiness seemed to be in advancing the growth and upbuilding of the town, to which he gave a number of lots for the erection of churches and schools. Himself a temperate man in every sense of the word, never having used liquor or tobacco in any form, he was a staunch advocate of temperance and was an unwearied worker in the cause throughout his life. During his early life he voted the Whig ticket, but later, when the Republican Party was formed, he voted for its candidates. He passed away in the town which he had founded, May 4, 1887, at the age of sixty-four years, loved and honored by his fellow citizens. Mrs. Locke is still living at the old home place, and at the age of eighty-seven is enjoying very good health. She has a record of temperature and weather, taken three times a day, as well as a record of happenings of the Lockeford locality since her arrival in 1855.

Source: Tinkham, George H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages 547-548. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic Record Co., 1923. Transcribed for Golden Nugget Library website by Gerald Iaquinta.

Find A Grave contributor danderup furnished this biography information.