California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 LELAND J. GARNER. � One of the most widely known young business men in Lake county is "Lee" J. Garner, youngest son of John Riley Garner, and already a representative member of a family whose operations as land- owners and stockmen have made them locally famous. For several genera- tions his ancestors have had similar interests, growing and trading in horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, and for three generations at least every male member of the family has been so engaged ; and if the Garners are reputed to be qualified by nature for the calling of their choice it is a reasonable deduction. Lee J. Garner, besides having valuable individual interests, is a stockholder in the John R. Garner Stock Farm Corporation, the youngest member of that organization, which has the management of the extensive lands and herds members of the family hold in common. The Garners have been in this country since before the Revolution, John Garner, the great-great-grandfather of Lee J. Garner, having come from Eng- land and settled in Virginia prior to that war, in which he fought on the colonial side. His son, also called John, was a stockman and farmer; he died of cholera in 1833. Valentine and Sarah (Edington) Garner, paternal grand- parents of Lee J. Garner, were natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. They were married in Missouri, and to them were born eight children: Nancy, John Riley, William, Martha, Diantha, Jane, Susan and Frances. The mother died in her thirty-sixth year, and the father married again, having seven children by his second wife. He lived to his eightieth year. By occupation he was a farmer, trader and stockman, successful in all these lines. John Riley Garner, the father of Lee J. Garner, was born July 22, 1838, came to California when nineteen years old, and has been a resident of Lake county since 1883. For the last twelve years he has made his home at .Upper Lake. His interests have increased until he is one of the most import- ant figures in the stock business in the county, and he is the president of the John R. Garner Stock Farm Corporation, mention of whose various operations will be found in the sketches of the different members of the Garner family which appear in this work. In 1864 he married Miss Aramanta Roberts, who died May 13, 1913, the mother of twelve children, eight of whom survive. Lee J. Garner was born October 9, 1887, in Long valley. Lake county, and was reared and educated there. He attended primary and grammar school at Upper Lake, and lived in that village for several years, moving there with his parents in January, 1901. In the fall of 1907 he engaged in the butcher business at Upper Lake, but continued his active connection with the same only one year, when he sold to devote his time to the stock business, his agricultural work now occupying his entire attention. On his own account he keeps an average of one hundred and fifty head of cattle on the range, renting all the grazing lands of Colonel Hammond and William O. Edmands, Besides he maintains his connection with the John R. Garner Stock Farm Corporation, which owns about twenty-seven hundred acres of land in Long valley and much stock, the remarkable prosperity characteristic of the family being founded upon its valuable herds. While engaged in looking after his business affairs Mr. Garner has of necessity spent much time in the saddle, where he is perfectly at home, and indeed has become somewhat noted for his horsemanship. In the course of his work he has formed a wide acquain- tance which extends into every section of Lake county, and his pleasant per- sonality and reliable character have won him friends wherever his duties have called him. His energy and alertness have gained him a place among the most dependable men in his line in spite of his youth, and he is considered a force for progress which his associates and fellow citizens generally gladly reckon with. Politically he is a Republican with Progressive tendencies. Mr. Garner was united in marriage September 27, 1910, at Lower Lake, with Miss Catherine Timothy, a native of Lake county, born near Kelseyville, the daughter of Morgan and Mary (Wallers) Timothy, natives of Wales, who became farmers in Lake county. Mr. and Mrs. Garner have had three chil- dren: Donald (who died when seventeen months old), Nadine and Kathleen.