Butte County
Biographies
HENRY F. AHRENS
HENRY F. AHRENS. – In the life of
this successful citizen of Enterprise are illustrated the results of
perseverance and energy, coupled with judicious management and strict
integrity. He is a citizen of whom any community might be proud. Mr. Ahrens was
born in Holstein, Germany, October 28, 1842, and attended the German schools.
At the age of fifteen and one half years, he began his apprenticeship as a nail
maker, working in his uncle’s shop. Nails were then made by hand. After
following the trade for eleven years in Germany, Mr. Ahrens then decided to
seek a new location. In 1868, therefore, he came to America, landing at New
York. His objective point was California, where he had two uncles, Henry and
Charles Ahrens; and he accordingly crossed the Isthmus, and arrived in San
Francisco on December 5, that year, and secured work at his trade in that city
for about two months. Determined to see more of the country, he went to
Stockton, where for six months he engaged in wagon-making, in the blacksmith
department of the trade. Mr. Ahrens then moved to Tuolumne County, and followed
placer mining at Big Oak Flat. In 1873 he returned to San Francisco and engaged
in the mercantile business until 1880, when he failed. Once more going to work
for wages, he was next employed by the Geary Street Railway Company until 1892,
and then worked for six months in Napa County. In 1893, with but one five-cent
piece in his pocket, he landed at Gridley Bridge, Butte County, and found work
on a ranch, where he remained for four years. In 1897 he settled in Enterprise,
and there followed mining and worked on farms. He became well acquainted with
George Drown, a well-known pioneer in Butte County, who built the Sunnyside
Hotel in 1876. Mr. Drown became ill, and had no one to take care of him and his
business. Mr. Ahrens assumed this responsibility, and as a reward for his
faithfulness, Mr. Drown, at his death, deeded the hotel to Mr. Ahrens. Mr.
Ahrens has since purchased the eighty acres, on a part of which the building
now stands. On January 20, 1908, the Enterprise store burned down, and the
proprietor did not wish to rebuild it. The people then prevailed upon Mr.
Ahrens to build and keep a store for Enterprise; and it is as proprietor of the
general merchandise store, and as postmaster (the post office being located in
the same building), that Mr. Ahrens is now occupied. “A square deal” is his
slogan, of which his extensive patronage gives evidence.
While living in San Francisco, Mr. Ahrens
was united in marriage with Miss Mary Lawless, of that city. He has
one son, Harry, who is now thirty-four years old.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
22 April 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Page 867, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies