Biographies
JOSEPH F. HUMMEL
More than one-quarter century has brought
its transforming revolutions into the annals of California since Joseph F.
Hummel laid aside the burdens of existence and entered into eternal rest, but
long has been the period since his departure, his memory lingers green and
fresh in the minds of the pioneers who knew him and in the hearts of his
family, among whom his vacant chair nevermore can be filled. He belonged to
that sturdy class of pioneers to whom we owe the early development of the state
and whose tireless labors and patriotic devotion laid a broad and solid
foundation for later substantial development. When gold was discovered in
California he was at the threshold of maturity and well qualified by rugged
constitution and tireless energy for the arduous tasks incident upon westward
immigration. Born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1819, he
inherited the forceful qualities associated with Teutonic blood and, while he
lacked educational advantages, for this deprivation there was a recompense in faculties of keen observation and careful
reading of current literature. Mr. Hummel came to Philadelphia when a young man
and there remained until 1852, when he came to California via Panama.
Upon his arrival in the west, a stranger
unfamiliar with the language or customs of the people, Mr. Hummel found San
Francisco a city of tents filled with a cosmopolitan throng allured hither by
the discovery of gold. With characteristic energy he found a place for himself
and embarked in business. Finding the conditions encouraging and the future
assured in 1856 he returned to Philadelphia and there in June, 1856, occurred
his marriage to Miss Louisa D. Wetzel, a native of Metzingen,
Wurtemberg, Germany, who before her marriage was an
instructor in the art department at "Luthe"
in Philadelphia. In 1857 the couple came to California, where Mr. Hummel had a
comfortable residence in Sutter near Kearney, but he soon located in Sacramento
and here they found a place suitable for housekeeping, thus beginning their
long identification with the citizenship of the capital city. During 1858 Mr.
Hummel opened a shoe store in Sacramento, on J street
between Third and Fourth streets, afterwards locating on Fifth and J streets,
where he continued to operate until his death, which occurred in 1876. His
widow makes her home at No. 1619 L street and has many
warm friends among the people of the city where for more than fifty years she
has lived and labored. When yet a young girl in the home of her childhood she
acquired a thorough knowledge of embroidery and afterward she kept up an
interest in the skilled handiwork of the day, so that she became recognized as
one of the most expert needlewomen in Sacramento, where for years she gave
instructions in embroidery with gratifying success. Of her five children three
are still living. Agnes is with John Brenner Co. and Emma is at the head of the
art department of Weinstock & Lubin
Co., while the son, Herman H., resides in San Francisco and is connected with
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in that city.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 952-953. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.