Los Angeles County

Biographies

 

 

 

 

HERMAN HENRY KERCKHOFF

 

 

     KERCKHOFF, HERMAN HENRY, President of the Avawatz Salt and Gypsum Company, Los Angeles, California, was born at Lingen in the Province of Hanover, Germany, January 20, 1867, the son of George Kerckhoff and Philippine (Neuhart) Kerckhoff.  Mr. Kerckhoff was married to Anne May Wethern at Los Angeles, October 4, 1899, and to them have been born two sons, Stephens and Herman Kerckhoff.

     Mr. Kerckhoff, although born in Germany and descended of German stock, is, in reality, an American, his parents having lived in Indiana for many years before he was born.  They moved to Los Angeles when he was a boy and the greater part of his life has been spent in Southern California.

     He attended the public schools of Los Angeles and was graduated from the high school in the class of 1884.  He entered the University of California the next year, taking up special studies in chemistry, and would have graduated in the class of 1889, but left in the preceding year and went on a tour of Europe.

     Returning to Los Angeles in 1889, Mr. Kerckhoff became associated with the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Lumber and Mill Company, of which his elder brother, William G. Kerckhoff, was the organizer and chief owner.  Mr. Kerckhoff was appointed manager of the company’s branch yard at Pomona, California, and remained in that position for about a year, being at that time promoted to the management of the more important branch of the company’s business at Pasadena.  Being a conscientious worker, he impaired his health through overzealousness, and at the end of six months was compelled to give up active business and seek to regain his strength. 

     He was only out of active business for a few months, however, resuming his work as manager of the personal affairs of his father, who was a man of many interests in Los Angeles.  He managed the affairs of the elder Kerckhoff for several years and upon the death of the latter, organized the Kerckhoff Estate Company, of which he continued as manager.

     In 1900 Mr. Kerckhoff, in addition to conducting the family business, organized a corporation known as the Hipolito Screen and Sash Company, being chosen President of it.  This concern has grown into a prosperous industry and Mr. Kerckhoff still is actively engaged in the direction of its affairs.

     In 1912 Mr. Kerckhoff and other capitalists of Los Angeles organized the Avawatz Salt and Gypsum Company and at the present time (1912) is engaged in the preliminaries necessary to the beginning of operations by this company.   These include erection of a modern salt refinery and the building of a railroad sixteen miles in length to the mines of the company in the Death Valley of California.  This company promises to become one of the large industrial enterprises of the Pacific Coast, the holdings including immense deposits of high-grade rock salt and gypsum, the latter an important ingredient in the manufacture of cement and wall plaster.

     Mr. Kerckhoff has entered into the conduct of the company in a manner characteristic of him, having surrounded himself with the most capable men he could procure for the various departments, and then started work on his plant immediately.  Confident of the success of the enterprise, he looks forward to adding another great commercial asset to the already large number now forming part of the industrial strength of Southern California.

     The name of Kerckhoff has long been a conspicuous one in the business life of Los Angeles.  The men of the Kerckhoff family have all done their share towards promoting the country and developing its resources.  William G. Kerckhoff was one of the pioneers in the adaptation of water for power purposes in Southern California.  H. H. Kerckhoff has been associated with him in a great many of his ventures and has lent his aid towards their success.

     Mr. Kerckhoff, in addition to his office as President of the Avawatz Salt and Gypsum Company, is a director of the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Lumber and Mill Company Secretary and Treasurer of the Kerckhoff Estate Company, and interested in various other enterprises.

     He is an enthusiast for the upbuilding of the Southwest and a believer in clean government, but he has never taken an active part in politics.

     He is a Scottish Rite Mason, also a member of the Mystic Shrine.  He belongs to the California Club, Jonathan Club, University Club and the Gamut Club.

 

 

Transcribed 7-15-08 Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I,  Page 94, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.  1913.

© 2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.

 

 

 

 

 

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