ADOLPH HEILBRON

      The history of mankind is replete with illustrations of the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in men are brought out and developed.  Perhaps the history of no people so forcibly impresses one with this truth as the annals of our own republic.  If anything can inspire the youth of our country to persistent, honest and laudable endeavor it should be the life record of such men as he of whom we write.  The example of the illustrious few of our countrymen who have risen from obscurity to the highest position in the gift of the nation serves often to awe our young men rather than inspire them to emulation, because they reason that only a few can ever attain such eminence, but the history of such men as Adolph Heilbron proves conclusively that with a reasonable amount of mental and physical power, success is bound eventually to crown the endeavor of those who have the ambition to put forth their best efforts and the will of manliness to persevere therein.  He has long been actively connected with business affairs in northern California, promoting many enterprises of value to the community as well as of individual benefit to the stock-owners.

      Mr. Heilbron was born in Bohmte, Hanover, Germany, January 18, 1833, and in the schools of his native town acquired his education.  In his youth he became an assistant in his father's store.  He also learned the trade of manufacturer of tobacco, which is considered a very important one in the fatherland.  In 1852 he bade adieu to the home and friends of his youth and sailed from Bremen to New York city, arriving in the metropolis of the new world after a voyage of fifty-six days.  He proceeded thence to St. Louis, where he had a brother living, and there he secured work at his trade, being employed in that capacity until 1854, when he came to California by way of New Orleans and the isthmus route.

      For a short time Mr. Heilbron remained in San Francisco and thence went to Eldorado county, where in connection with two other young men, he began prospecting. They had fair success and he continued in the mines until the fall of 1856, when he came to Sacramento and joined his brother in conducting a meat market.  They also bought and sold livestock.  In 1874 they organized a company in San Francisco, under the firm name of Poly Heilbron & Company, wholesale dealers in meats, and in 1874 they leased a grant of land in Tulare and Fresno counties on the Kings river known as the Rancho Laguna de Tache, comprising over fifty-four thousand acres.  In 1880 they purchased the grant and added to it until their landed possessions aggregated sixty-nine thousand acres.  They continued as owners of that extensive tract of land until 1891 when they sold out.  However they still conducted their San Francisco and Sacramento houses, also the wild Flower stock farm in Fresno county, where they are breeding the celebrated Durham and Hereford cattle.  Their herds are known as the best in the state; and not alone the stockmen of California have drawn young stock from them to improve their herds but also those of Nevada, Oregon, Mexico, Central America, the Hawaiian Islands, and Japan.

      Mr. Heilbron is a man of excellent business ability, resourceful and energetic, and has been an active promotor of many enterprises.  He was one of the originators of the Germania Building and Loan Association in 1876, the first association of its kind organized in California. From the beginning he served as a member of its directorate and was also elected its president, continuing in that capacity until 1887, when he resigned in order to take a trip to Europe.  He visited his old home and other places of interest, remaining abroad for eighteen months.  In 1888 he was one of the incorporators of the Buffalo Brewing Company of Sacramento, and has continuously served as its president from that time to the present.  He was also one of the incorporators of the Capital Telephone & Telegraph Company and is still serving on its board of directors.  He is a director of the California State Bank, was one of the organizers and a director of San Joaquin Ice and Creamery Company, one of the largest institutions of the kind in the state, and he is interested in the wholesale hardware firm of Shaw, Ingram, Batcher & Company.  

      In 1879 Mr. Heilbron was elected sheriff and tax collector of Sacramento county, which office he held for two terms.

      In 1860 Mr. Heilbron was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Schaar, a native of Hamburg, Germany, and they have had four children, of whom but two are still living, namely: Henry A. and Mrs. Caroline Quaas of Sacramento.

      The mind of Mr. Heilbron is many-sided, but no side is abnormally developed, all being harmonious and even.  To whatever he gives his time and attention he carries through to successful completion.  He is ever just and also generous; others must do the part they agree with him to do, and never has he been known to fail on his part.  His is an example of the boys who educate themselves and secure their own start in life--determined, self-reliant boys,--willing to work for advantages which other boys secured through inheritance; destined by sheer force of character to succeed in the face of all opposition and to push to the front in one important branch of enterprise or another.  As a man his business ability has been constantly manifested in one phase or another, showing unlimited possibilities, nothing too great to grasp and master; and the extensive concerns--some of the largest in California--of which he is now the head are monuments to his wonderful power.

Source: “A Volume Of Memoirs And Genealogy of Representative Citizens Of Northern California” Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. Chicago. 1901. Pages 678-680.

 

Submitted by: Betty Tartas.