A.  HERTZEL

 

A. Hertzel, cigar manufacturer and dealer, 510 K Street, is one of the enterprising young business men of Sacramento.  He is a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, born at the town of Womelsdorf, fourteen miles from Reading, December 8, 1860.  His father, William Hertzel, was originally an iron-ladle maker by trade, but later a merchant and farmer.  His mother's maiden name was Lydia Ibach.  Both parents were of Pennsylvania families, and were natives of Allentown, Lehigh County.  A.  Hertzel, the subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in his native town, and learned the trade of cigar-making with the firm of A. S. Valentine & Son.  He afterward went to Reading, where he worked as a journeyman.  From boyhood he had taken a natural liking for music, and at an early age became a proficient performer on the B-flat cornet.  He went to Atlantic City as a musician, playing during the summer season at the far-famed watering place.  He traveled throughout the Eastern States, working at his trade in the cities and keeping up his practice on his favorite instrument, and in the summer of 1885 came west and located for a time at Canton, Illinois, where he became a member of the band.  In March, 1887, he came to San Jose, California, and in July of the same year to Sacramento.  He obtained employment with the firm of J. Baptiste & Co., with whom he was engaged until late in December, 1887, when he purchased the business of Michael Lesser, at his present location.  When he started in business for himself it was on a small scale, and he was the only workman in the shop.  Now he employs four skilled workmen, and his business extends throughout the city and also the territory tributary to it.  He employs only white labor, uses the best of material, and his manufactured goods have a high reputation.  Mr. Hertzel was married in Canton, Illinois, to Miss Sarah Brown, a native of that city, whose parents came from New York State.  They have one child, a boy, named Charles.  Mr. Hertzel plays the B-flat cornet in the celebrated First Artillery Regiment Band.  He is a member of Industrial Lodge, I. O. O. F., Sacramento, and Camp 67, Patriotic Order Sons of America, at Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Hertzel is a genial, courteous gentleman, and enjoys the respect of a large circle of friends.