Butte County
Biographies
HERMAN KARL RUMBOLZ.--Herman Karl Rumbolz was born at
Oberambstad, Wurtemberg, Germany, the son of Jacob and Christene (Kahler)
Rumbolz, also natives of Wurtemberg. His
father is descended from a prominent old Bohemian family, members of which
migrated from that country to Wurtemberg after the Thirty Years War. On his maternal side he is of French Huguenot
descent, the family having fled from France to Wurtemberg at the time of the Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. The parents of
Mr. Rumbolz were well-to-do farmers. The
father died in 1917, while the mother is still living. Of her six children, Herman Karl is the third
oldest.
After completing the public schools Herman
Karl, when fourteen years of age, was apprenticed at the harness-maker's and
upholsterer's trades for three years, and then he worked at his trade in
different places until he was nineteen years of age. Having heard good reports of better wages in
the United States, he concluded to cast in his lot with the land of the Stars
and Stripes. So he came to Plymouth,
Iowa, in 1893. He worked at his trade
only a short time before he was offered better wages on the farm, and as he
found more enjoyment in doing outdoor work, he continued at farming until 1900,
and then removed to Towner, McHenry County, N. Dak., homesteading one hundred
sixty acres. This he improved,
fulfilling the law and obtaining a deed.
After farming the place seven years, he sold it in 1907, and came to
Chico, Cal. Buying at the corner of Eighth
Street and Arcadian Road, he built his residence there, the place being set out
to prunes, now in full bearing and a source of income. In 1912 he purchased a forty-acre ranch in
Cohasset, on which he has a twelve-acre orchard of apples, Bartlett pears and
peaches, which is well cared for. He has
run the mail and stage line to Cohasset for about four years.
Mr. Rumbolz was married, in North Dakota,
to Louise Ernestine Bernhard, who was born in Ontario, Canada, the daughter of
George and Frederika Bernhard, who were farmers successively in Ontario, Iowa,
and North Dakota, finally locating in Chico, in 1902, where the father died;
the mother still lives in Chico. Mr. and
Mrs. Rumbolz have three children:
Wesley, Harry, and Matthew. Mr.
Rumbolz is a member of the Church of God, and politically is a Prohibitionist.
Transcribed by
Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1313-1314, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies