Alameda County
Biographies
HANS SORENSEN
HANS
SORENSEN. Actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in the rich and fertile
country of central California
are many enterprising and progressive men who bring to their chosen calling
good business methods and excellent judgment, and are meeting with well-merited
success in their operations. Prominent among this number is Hans Sorensen,
proprietor of Valle Vista dairy ranch, which is located in Alameda
county, about one and one-half miles from Haywards, on the Niles
road. He is a self-made man in the highest sense implied by the term, coming
here from a foreign land poor in pocket, but rich in energy and ambition, and
having by his own strenuous efforts accumulated a goodly store of this world’s
wealth. A native of Denmark,
he was born June 17, 1859, on a farm, and there grew to man’s estate,
receiving a practical training in the various branches of agriculture.
Soon after attaining his majority Mr. Sorensen
determined to come to America,
and in June, 1881, arrived in Philadelphia, Pa. Stopping but a day or two in
that city, he pushed westward to the Pacific coast, on June 29 finding
himself in San Francisco,
a stranger in a strange land, with forty dollars as his sole capital. In search
of work with which he was familiar, he came directly to Alameda county,
locating at Mount Eden, where for the next three years he worked by the month
and for four years afterward was employed by the Mohr Brothers, extensive
farmers. Embarking then in business on his own account, Mr. Sorensen
rented seventy acres of land in the valley, and also adjoining land, and there
carried on general ranching for nine years, being quite successful in his
undertakings. In 1899 Mr. Sorensen purchased two hundred and ten acres of
land, all in the valley, a part of which is included in his present home ranch,
paying $15,000 for the estate, and going into debt to the amount of $11,000.
With courage and energy he began the improvement of his ranch, and for a number
of years carried on general farming, including the raising of grain and hay,
and dairying, keeping about forty cows, and succeeding well in his
undertakings. In June, 1904, Mr. Sorensen disposed of one hundred and
seventy acres of his farm, selling at an advantageous price, keeping forty
acres of the best land. Twenty-five acres of this he devotes to the raising of
apricots, having a fine orchard of young trees, and on the remainder carries on
general farming. He has also other interests, being a stockholder in the Eden
Creamery, which he assisted in organizing and establishing.
April 21, 1884, Mr. Sorensen married Kirsten Larsen,
to whom he was engaged when he left his native land. She was born and bred in
Denmark, and came to the United States in 1882 in response to the urgent
appeals of Mr. Sorensen, who sent her the money to pay her traveling
expenses across the ocean and the continent. Three children have blessed the
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sorensen, namely: Thorwald L.,
a butter maker at Ferndale, Humboldt county;
Henry, a student at the Oakland Polytechnic
College;
and Charles, at home. Politically Mr. Sorensen is a steadfast Republican.
Fraternally he is a member of Hayward Lodge, F. & A. M.; of Haywards Lodge, W. of W.; and belongs to the
Dania Society of the Pacific
Coast.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 22 September 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page
788. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.
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