Alameda County
Biographies
FREDERICK DIEDRICH WIEGMAN
German energy and substantiality have invaded many avenues of activity in Alameda county, but in no instance are they more pronounced than in the career of Frederick Diedrich Wiegman, an extensive land owner, a prominent stockman, and senior member of the firm of Wiegman & Poorman, one of the largest dairying companies in the state of California. In Mr. Wiegman the youth struggling against difficulties should find an example worthy of emulation, for his childhood knew only such advantages as he created for himself, and his manhood has developed only under the impetus of his own ambition and determination. When he arrived in New York January 27, 1862, without a cent to his name, there was probably not an individual in the great metropolis who would have staked anything upon either his honesty or his ability, but today there is no man in Alameda county whose word goes further, or whose personal honor is more firmly established.
Born in Hanover, Germany, October 20, 1848, Mr. Wiegman lost his father at an early age, and when he arrived at ten years of age went to live with a country doctor, for whom he did farm work, and where he saved every cent possible of his small wages. The alertness and activity which characterizes his present life was apparent even at that early age and he began to devise schemes for making a livelihood that would be more pleasant and profitable, with the result that when he was fourteen he gathered together his earnings and personal belongings and took unceremonious leave of the doctor. The slow going vessel in which he sailed for the United States was overtaken by disaster in mid ocean, was partially destroyed by fire, and its passengers and crew rescued by a passing vessel. The youth lost his trunk and possessions, and when he arrived in New York had absolutely nothing but the clothes he was wearing and was in debt $22. Having an uncle in Baltimore, he wrote and stated his case, and in return received a letter containing the $22, and passage money to Baltimore. For a time he worked in the store of his relative and soon after served an apprenticeship of three years to a butcher in the same city. Frugal and industrious he made and saved money, and in 1865 came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, engaging at his trade in San Francisco. That he was a master workman was soon demonstrated, for from a salary of $30 a month he was raised at the end of the first month to $75 a month. Three years later he broke his leg and was laid up for a year, but this did not prove a serious hindrance, for upon his recovery he was still the possessor of $3,000, a large sum considering the length of time he had been in accumulating it.
Coming to Alameda county in 1869, Mr. Wiegman found employment with August May, whose business he bought out a year later, in partnership with William Young. Consolidating this business with that of Philip Hellwig, the three men operated their meat enterprise under the firm name of Hellwig & Co., building up a large business, and profiting by the shrewdness, ability, and tireless industry of all of the partners. In 1890 Mr. Wiegman sold his interest and withdrew from the firm, and has since engaged in the cattle business on an extensive scale. When his friend, George Patterson, died in 1899, his request was that Mr. Wiegman should assume charge of his cattle ranch of several thousand acres in Alameda county, and at the same time advise his widow as to the disposition of her property. This Mr. Wiegman has done faithfully and conscientiously, giving the task the same careful attention which has been instrumental in raising him to his present prominent position. In 1898 Mr. Wiegman leased the sugar factory grounds, the beet tops and pulp, and four hundred acres besides, and has since engaged in the dairy business on a large scale. There is no larger or more modernly equipped dairy in the state, or one whose products rank higher in the markets of the west. He has found the tops and pulp of beets admirable as fattening products, and from three to four thousand head of cattle are fed yearly. He has the largest and finest stables in Alameda county, and has recently purchased one hundred acres adjoining the beet sugar company's grounds, upon which he fattens three hundred and twenty-five head yearly. His home place in Alvarado consists of twenty acres, all under vegetables, which he leases on shares, and which he values at $1,000 an acre. He owns thirty acres adjoining across the creek, also under vegetables and orchard, upon which are two houses that he leases. One hundred acres which he formerly used for vegetables is now used for dairy purposes, and besides he owns thirty-seven acres a mile from the town, fifteen acres in another tract, and one hundred and sixty acres in Siskiyou county.
Mr. Wiegman has shown marked predilection for public affairs, and is a stanch promoter of charitable and upbuilding institutions. He is one of the organizers, stockholders, and directors of the Bank of Alvarado and has given his influence to the perfecting of the public school system. His wife was formerly Catherine Mohr, a native of Schleswig-Holstein, who came to America in her fourteenth year. Frederick Henry, the only child in the family, was born in 1893. In his relations with his business associates and friends Mr. Wiegman is affable and approachable, and is noted for his practical common sense as applied to all matters of public moment. He is one of the best posted dairymen of Alameda county, and has made a distinct success of an occupation holding large opportunities for the industriously inclined.
Transcribed
8-26-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1277-1278. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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