Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN E.
HAGEL
JOHN E. HAGEL.--As a native of Sacramento
County, John E. Hagel
is taking an active part in its development, as a rancher, residing on the old
home ranch and remodeling the property into a modern California
holding. Born there on July 7, 1895, he is the son of John and Susan (Thomas) Hagel; the former a native of Philadelphia, Pa., born July
16, 1842, of German parents who early in life settled in that metropolis. The
father, a son of Godfrey and Christiana (Winegardner)
Hagel, was reared and educated in the locality of his
birth, and in September 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Eighth Pennsylvania
Cavalry, under Colonel Gregg, for service in the Civil War, and took part in
battles with the Army of the Potomac. He was captured at
Chancellorsville, and confined in Libby Prison at
Richmond, suffering privations and hardships never to be forgotten; he was
finally paroled and exchanged, and rejoined his regiment, participating in
Sheridan’s raid on Richmond and in the siege of Petersburg, and was honorably
discharged in October 1864. He returned to Philadelphia
and resided there until 1868, when he came to California
via Panama, and
for a time worked as ranch hand. Later he acquired a 300-acre ranch and engaged
in general ranching and stock-raising. His death occurred at the age of
seventy-six, while his wife is still living, at Lodi,
Cal.
John
E. Hagel attended the Alabama
district school and supplemented his education with a course at Heald’s Business College
in Stockton. In 1910 the Sacramento
County ranch was rented
and the family moved to San Joaquin County
where a ranch was purchased on Wyandotte Avenue
southeast of Lodi, where they
made their home until 1920, when this property was sold and they lived in Lodi.
John E. enlisted for service in the World War, June 14, 1917, in the U.S. Naval
Reserve, and was later called into active service and sent to the submarine
base at San Pedro; after a stay of twenty days at that point he was sent to New
York and stationed at the navy yards at Brooklyn
as an armed guard. He was in this branch but ten days when transferred to the
U.S.S. Rochester for trans-Atlantic service, in which he remained six months
and made three round trips to Europe, serving as a
non-commissioned officer, with rank of gun captain. He received his discharge
in June 1921.
The
marriage of Mr. Hagel, which occurred at Sacramento,
March 19,1918,united him with Grace Irene Hovard,
born in Fairbury, Nebr., the daughter of Noah and Ollie (McAdow)
Hovard; she attended the Alpine district school of
San Joaquin County and the Lodi high school. Two children have been born to
them: Marjorie Grace, and John William.
In
April 1922, Mr. Hagel moved his family to the old
home ranch in Sacramento County,
and he has remodeled the place into a modern ranch home, and in partnership
with his brother, Thomas M., is devoting his time to
improving and cultivating the property, which had been allowed to get into a
run-down condition by former tenants. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to
the Lodi lodge, and is a member of
the Scottish Rite Consistory and of Ben Ali Temple of Sacramento. He is also a
member of the Smith-Lippi Post of the American
Legion, of Galt.
Transcribed
by Gloria Wiegner Lane.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 509-510. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Gloria Wiegner
Lane.