Alameda
County
Biographies
WILLIAM E. BOCKMANN
The determination and perseverance of the
German-American have accomplished much toward the upbuilding of Alameda county, and many of its finest farms and most practical
industries are due to this substantial and reliable element. The farm of
William E. Bockmann present a typical home of a
typical son of the fatherland, and in its favorable location, about a mile from
San Lorenzo, impresses as much by its promise as by what has already been
accomplished. Mr. Bockmann was born in Hanover,
Germany, January 30, 1844, and June 23, 1868, arrived in San Francisco, having
come by way of New York and Panama. He was twenty-four years old, and besides a
strong constitution and a fair education, had the grit of his forefathers, and
a determination to succeed. He was accompanied by his brother, and at once came
to Eden township, the following year going to near Anaheim, where his brother
had bought a farm and where he himself worked for about six months. He then
returned to Eden township and worked by the month
until 1872, when he and his brother Henry rented the farm which Mr. Bockmann now owns.
In the fall of 1880 Mr. Bockmann and his brother bought one hundred and three acres
of the present farm, placed it under grain and stock, and managed it together
until 1891. Mr. Bockmann then rented his brother’s
half of the ranch until 1895, in which year Henry gave William E. his interest,
and the latter has since conducted the entire property alone. Unfortunately the
land was originally unpromising and only fairly fertile, and at present it is
principally wet land, and not adapted to fruit or vegetables. Cultivation has
made it valuable and productive grain and hay land, and its house, barns and
general improvements are modern and suited to all demands. A small dairy
furnishes a lesson in neatness and thrift, and a popular breed of stock is
being increased from year to year. Mr. Brockmann
(sic) keeps in touch with agricultural advancement through the medium of fairs
and periodicals, and makes an effort to surround his family with the comforts
and conveniences which make the farm life of to-day (sic) pleasant as well as
profitable. Mrs. Bockmann also is a native of
Hanover, Germany, and in girlhood was known as Mata Bartels. She came to
America in 1870, and she now rejoices in four sturdy sons, of whom Henry John
and Herman Frederick are farmers in Eden township, and
William Martin and Wilken John are still with their
father on the home place. Mr. Bockmann is a
Republican in politics, and in religion is a member of the Lutheran
Church.
Transcribed
by: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Pages 989-990. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.
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