Calaveras
County
Biographies
CHARLES H. SCHROEBEL
It is worthy of note that the
majority of the pioneers of California were young or comparatively young
men. They did not come to mold a new
community in accordance with antiquated customs which had been worn out elsewhere. They came open-eyed, susceptible to
conviction, ready to take conditions as they existed and shape them according
to the time and place. How they
succeeded everyone knows who is at all familiar with the history of the state. One of the most far-sighted of these pioneers
is the man whose name appears above, and therefore we enter upon record an
account of his ancestry, his life and his success.
Mr. Schroebel
is a native of Alabama, born March 12, 1827, and is of German and French
lineage. His grandfather, Henry Schroebel, immigrated to the new world from Germany, taking
up his abode in South Carolina, and in that state his son, Jacob Henry Schroebel, the father of our subject, was born. There he remained until after his marriage o
Miss Louise A. Colzy, of French ancestry, her father
having been a refugee from the massacre of San Domingo. After their marriage they removed to Alabama,
where they continued to reside for some years.
The father was a Baptist minister and a devout Christian. For many years he served as the pastor of the
church of his demonization in Mobile, filling that position when, in 1843, he
was stricken with yellow fever and died.
He was then forty-two years of age.
His noble life, characterized by the broadest human sympathy and a most
earnest desire to lead men to take cognizance of their souls’ needs was an
unalloyed benediction to all who knew him, and his influence was that of the ech which “rolls from soul to soul and grows forever and
forever.” His good wife survived him and
attained the age of sixty-three. They
became the parents of five daughters and two sons, four of whom are now living,
two being residents of California: Mrs.
Laura L. Ruggles, the matron of the Protestant Orphan
Asylum at Mobile, Alabama; Mrs. Margaret mercer, of Angel’s Camp; Mrs. Jane T.
Stokes, living at Mobile, Alabama; and Charles H. of this review. The latter acquired his education in Mobile,
Alabama, and began life on his own account as a clerk in a store. In 1850 he sailed from new
Orleans to Chagres, thence proceeded up the river in a canoe to Gorgona and from there by mule train to Panama, where he
took passage on the sailing vessel Glenmore for San Francisco, arriving safely
at his destination on the 15th of May, 1850. He went direct to Stockton and thence to
Tuolumne County, where he was engaged in placer mining at Columbia. He was not very successful, however, and in
consequence returned to Stockton, where he paid seventy-five dollars for a
scythe and snath and engaged in cutting hay. He sold this product to teamsters and
received agood price for it, and with the money which
he earned in that way he came to Calaveras County, locating near San Andreas.
There Mr. Schroebel
engaged in selling goods and in freighting, making his home in that locality
for four years. In 1859 he began raising
sheep in this county, and has since been connected with that business, which is
now one of the leading industries on the Pacific coast. He came to his present ranch in 1884 and here
owns a good residence and sixteen hundred acres of land. He raises horses and cattle as well as sheep
and has been very successful as a stock dealer, his business having attained
extensive proportions, thus bringing to him success which is the desired reward
for earnest effort. He resided near San
Andreas for fifteen years before engaging in the sheep business and had a wide
and favorable acquaintance in that portion of the state. In public affairs he has always been
prominent. Throughout his entire life he
has been a staunch Democrat and in 1855 he was appointed deputy sheriff. He resolved to rid the county of the
desperadoes which rendered life uncertain at all times and menaced property,
and thus for some years he was almost constantly in the saddle in pursuit of
criminals that then visited this portion of California. He proved a very important factor in ridding
the county of that very undesirable class of citizens, whereby all human life
and privileges were jeopardized.
In 1861 Mr. Schroebel
married Miss Eliza A. Abbott, a native of Arkansas and a daughter of Joshua
Abbott, one of the pioneers of California.
They had twelve children, all of whom were born in this state,
namely: Laura, who died in infancy;
Beauregard, who died at the age of thirty-four years, leaving a wife and one
child; Louisa, now Mrs. Eproson, of Milton; Lizzie,
the wife of Walter J. Robie, of Milton; Charles; Lee;
Addie, the wife of John A. Banks; Willie, who died when sixteen months old;
Margaret Ruth and Kate, who are at home; and Daniel and Richason,
twins, who also are under the paternal roof.
The children have been carefully reared and into their minds have been
instilled lessons of industry and honesty, so that the family is one held in
the highest regard in the community. Mr.
Schroebel has given his attention closely to his
business, having become identified with no societies or taken an active part in
politics. As a citizen, however, he is
public-spirited and progressive, manifesting a deep interest in everything
pertaining to the general welfare.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 549-550. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Calaveras County Biographies