Oak Leaf Wheelmen

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Place

Stockton, CA

Emblem & Uniform

  • oak leaf
  • three wings surrounded by a wheel
  • "The Oak Leaf Wheelmen of Stockton have Hickinbotham, Southworth and Wulff to sustain the honors of the green and gold."

Members

  • Carl Brueck
  • John E. Clifford
  • Lincoln H. Cook
  • Dave Creaner
  • Frank Elliott
  • Frank Eshbach
  • John Graham
  • Ed. Haas
  • George W. Hickinbotham
  • John E. Hickinbotham
  • Charles Hutchinson
  • Mark Lane
  • Theron Rufus Lillie
  • Ben B. Lyon
  • William McKee
  • Bert W. Moore
  • Charles C. Moore
  • Southworth
  • Theodore Steiny
  • Harry West
  • A. L. Wulff

GLITTERING WHEELS.

Some Interesting Facts About Stockton's Bicycle Club.

The A List of Local People Who Ride the The Things - The Club's Rubbered Rings - Uniforms.

Stockton has an enviable reputation for the cultivation and encouragement of various bealthful athletic sports. She has several clubs that are champions in their lines, and now a flourishing bicycle club is under way, that will soon contend for honors in the wheeling arena. For some years there have been a number of good wheelmen here, but not until the 15th of November of last year was an organization effected. The club styled itself "The Oak Leal Wheelmen," and immediately connected itself with the National League of American Wheelmen. In this State there are four districts of the league council, and C. C. Moore is the representative from this district.

There are now about 15,000 members of the League of American Wheelmen in by this country.

At the first meeting of the Oak Leaf Wheelmen the following named officers were elected: Captain, J. E. Clifford: Lieutenant, Bert W. Moore; President, C. C. Moore; Vice-President, Wm. McKee; Secretary and Treasurer, George W. Hickinbotham; Color Bearer, Lincoln H. Cook; Bugler, J. E. Hickinbotham; Local Council, Ben. B. Lyon.

BICYCLE OWNERS.

The club meetings are held on the first Friday in each month. There are now twenty members, the following sixteen of whom have their own machines: Charles C. Moore, John E. Clifford, John E. Hickinbotham, George W. Hickinbotham, William McKee, Frank Eshbach, Theodore Steiny, Lincoln Cook, Mark Lane, Bert W. Moore, Ben. B. Lyon, Dave Creaner, Ed. Haas, Harry West and Carl Brueck. Charles Hutchinson and A. L. Wulff have ordered machines, and they will arrive from the East in a few days. Frank Elliott and John Graham, the only two remaining members of the club, have no machines at present, but they contemplate ordering some soon.

Besides, there are four wheelmen in this city who own machines and do not belong to the club. Fred. Baird has an old style Columbia; George Clark, a Premier, English make; Harry L. West, a Columbia Expert, and William Buckly has a new American Challenge machine. The latter two are too young to obtain admission to the club. Leroy Moore has a machine on the road from the East, but his youth will also debar bim for a while from the privileges of the club.

Besides those mentioned the following. named wheelmen have no machines and are not members of the club: Fred Clark, William Trethway, George L. Wolf, Albert Smallfield, William Hickman, William Thresher and Ira Ladd.

THE RUBBERED RINGS.

In the East quite a number of ladies who ride tricycles have joined the league. In San Francisco a few have also become members, and recently Mrs. C. C. Moore of this city sent her application for membership to the league headquarters in the East.

The wheels owned in the club have been obtained through the agent in this city, John E. Clifford, and they are all of the Columbia Expert make. They are full nickel plated and their bright and uniform appearance enables the club to produce a striking effect when they appear in a body in public.

Many of the wheelmen here have had bells and lamps attached to their machines. These are intended to give warning to passing pedestrians. Quite serious accidents have often happened by collisions, especially in the night time. In England and in many cities of the East ordinances have been passed, requiring the use of these warning lamps and bells.

The club has decided to adopt the official league uniform. The color is a light brown, and the suit consists of a coat, knee trousers, cap, shirt and hose. John Wanamaker of Philadelphia has the contract from the league to furnish all the suits required by all of its members in the country. The cloth, which is very peculiar in character, is kept only by Wanamaker, and no one but a league member can obtain it. On the buttons is stamped the league emblem of the club - three wings surrounded by a wheel.

Bert W. Moore of the club has recently invented and put into use something of a novelty. It consists of a canopy, which is fastened by means of a curved iron rod to the head of his machine. On a trial trip it proved quite successful and comfortable until an accidental header almost demolished it.

EXPERT RIDERS.

Cycling is as yet, comparatively speaking, in its infancy in this city, and no very remarkable time has been made, but there are some promising wheelmen in the club. C. C. Moore once made a quarter of a mile on a heavy track in less than forty seconds. The same wheelman once rode from Waterloo to this city (eight miles) in thirty-five minutes. This is a remarkably fine and level road, and will probably always be the favorite racing track of local wheelmen. No doubt some excellent time will be made on it in the future. The road from Lodi (fourteen miles distant) also promises to be a fast track, Charles C. Moore and John E. Hickinbotham once made the distance in one hour and forty-two minutes.

Bert W. Moore and Mr. Hickinbotham are also excellent trick riders. They now perform a number of difficult tricks with as much ease as is displayed by the fancy trick riders of San Francisco.

THE COMING MEET.

The league of American Wheelmen, California division, will hold its second annual meet at Santa Cruz, beginning Saturday, July 2d, and ending Monday evening, July 4th, of this year. Stockton will be represented at this event by four members of the club: District Council Charles C. Moore, Dave Creanor, John E. Clifford and John E. Hickinbotham.

Mr. Moore and his wife will go to the meet on a new tandem tricycle that will arrive in this city in a few days. It is so constructed that two can ride on it, one in front of the other. The machine is a very fine one, costing $250. After it arrives two lamps and a bell will be attached. A canopy is also to be put over it. This can be much more easily and securely attached to a tricycle than to a bicycle, and no doubt it will make the machine a comfortable traveling vehicle.

The club of Oak Leaf Wheelmen is now in a flourishing condition. The members are all enthusiastic and active, a number of new people are about to join, and no doubt there will soon be as large and efficient a cycling organization in Stockton as is to be found in the State.

Oak Leaf Wheelmen 08 Jun 1887, Wed The Mail (Stockton, California) Newspapers.com

The run of the Bay City Wheelmen on July 28 was a most enjoyable one, but it was eclipsed on the 5th inst by the picnic run, that, for variety, could hardly be equaled anywhere. The members of the club and four of the Oak Leaf Wheelmen, of Stockton, who were their guests, left this city at 8:30, and riding leisurely down the Bay road reached San Mateo (twenty miles) at 11:30. The run was met a short distance from town by S. H. Knapp, Jr of the Commissary Department, and the usual refreshments in the shape of milk and crackers was dispensed. Wheels were again mounted, and the picnic grounds were soon reached. Here were found a number of the Garden City Wheelmen, of San Jose, who had ridden up thirty miles to attend the run. The lunch was soon attacked, and its disappearance was a matter of a very short time. The committee, with wise forethought, had provided an extra supply of everything, and this supply followed the course of the other edibles. After dinner the members and guests, numbering fifty-five, were photographed, the photographer finding great difficulty, as usual, in keeping his subjects still. After dinner the riders visited the great dam of the Spring Valley Water Works and viewed it with much interest. This dam has been in course of construction for five years, and has had at times nearly one thousand men working on it. Over 200,000 barrels of the best Portland cement were used in it, and it is to cost about $4,000,000.

The Wheel and Cycling Trade Review, Volume 3, 1889

The Oak Leaf Wheelmen of Stockton have Hickinbotham, Southworth and Wulff to sustain the honors of the green and gold.

THE WHEELMEN. - The Napa Register, 25 Oct 1889

The first club to build a track, worthy of the name, was the Alameda Bicycle and Athletic Club, which, at a large expense, put in a fine four lap record breaker and gave several successful meets at which many of the coast records were broken. Then Stockton fell into line and at Goodwater Grove the Oak Leaf Wheelmen put in a splendid track, acknowledged to be the fastest in the state and here D. L. Burke broke the quarter and half mile records with apparent ease. Riverside and Los Angeles came along a little later with good tracks and last, but not least, San Jose with a park and track second to none, and next year the California Division will have a regular circuit and with new men and first-class tracks it is hoped that some of the world's records may journey across the continent. Among the new lights of the track who have come into prominence during 1892 and eclipsed the stars of former years are D. L. Burke, of Los Angeles; W. Edwards, of Stanford University and C. S. Wells, of Sacramento.

Bicycle racing tracks in California, The Bearings, December 16, 1892

When the time came for locating the annual meet of 1888, the Oak Leaf Wheelmen of Stockton made such a generous offer that it was decided to hold the meet in that place. The Oak Leaf Wheelmen built a quarter-mile track at their own expense, and made most elaborate arrangements for the accommodation of its guests. The track was in perfect order, and the intense rivalry between the San Francisco Bicycle Club and the Bay City Wheelmen made the excitement at fever heat. All the interest was centered in Davis and Elwell, who were to come together again for the first time since Davis won from Elwell at Alameda in 1886. These two men were the representatives of the rival clubs, and they knew full well what was expected of them. They were perhaps the coolest of the thousand or more people on the grounds, and their outward appearance, as they lined up for the start, showed little of the intense fire that was burning within them. A slight delay kept the crowd at fever heat, and when at last the men were off the spectators breathed a sigh of relief, and settled down to watch what proved to be the greatest race ever ridden on this Coast.

The Wheel in California - Overland Monthly Vol. XXII July - December 1893

A Stockton correspondent writes that a new bicycle club has been formed by the local wheelmen of Stockton. The Oak Leaf Wheelmen were absorbed by the Stockton Athletic Association recently, and all of the furniture and billiard-tables in their clubrooms were purchased by the association. The new club was formed among the men who think they cannot afford to join the Athletic Association.

On the 25th inst. the Garden City Cycling Club of San Jose will send out a delegation to make the run to Stockton. The new Stockton Club hopes to be well organized by that time, and in a position to give the visitors some fitting reception while here.

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