HENRY TRIECHLER

 

Henry Triechler, a pioneer, was born in Staffa, Canton Zurich, Switzerland, in 1821, his parents being Henry and Elizabeth (Bramweldt) Triechler, both natives of Switzerland. From the tender age of twelve years our subject was compelled by circumstances to face the world alone. First he worked in a cotton factory, then as a tailor’s apprentice, spent two years in traveling and later on worked as a tailor, all before he was twenty-two years of age. He then emigrated to America, sailing from Havre, France, September 1844, in a merchant vessel for New Orleans, being forty-eight days on the voyage. At New Orleans he readily found employment at his trade, but in 1845, during the yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans, he went to Memphis, Tennessee, and early in the spring of 1846 went to San Antonio, Texas, but returned again to New Orleans and later on went to Baton Rouge, where he carried on business on his own account. During the summer of 1849, having heard accounts of General Fremont’s exploits in California, and of the discovery of gold here, he, with characteristic promptness of action, obtained passage on the steamer Falcon. Among others who came at that time was Mr. W.R. Strong, a merchant of this city, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. They arrived in Sacramento January 6, 1850, having spent a month in a sailing vessel coming from San Francisco: fare $36.00. Our subject was suffering from an attack of Panama fever, but, undeterred by this circumstance, he went almost immediately to Nicholas, on the Feather River, remaining there for a few weeks only and then going to the Auburn mining district. His mining experience not proving a success, he returned again to Nicholas and spent some time in the hay fields of the valley, subsequently returning to Sacramento and purchasing a ranch on the river, seven miles south of the city, where for three years he experimented in farming. Returning to Sacramento in 1853, he started the Mechanics’ Exchange on I Street, between Front and Second Streets, where he afterward built a hotel, which he kept for fifteen years, when declining health compelled him to retire from active business. He sold the furniture and fixtures and leased the property. He then built his brick residence on H Street, corner of Twentieth, where he had owned a lot for some time. Mr. Triechler is an active member of the Sacramento Lodge of California Pioneers. Of his home life a passing notice will suffice. He was married January 31, 1863, to the oldest daughter of Bezirkrichter Marcus and Anna B. Zimmermann, of Trasedingen, Canton Shaffhausen, Switzerland. They have seven children: Albert, Amy, Marcus, who died in infancy; Henry, the oldest son, born January 9, 1864; Hattie, the oldest daughter, born April 1, 1869; Albertina, born January 19, 1872; and George Marshall, the youngest, named in honor of the discoverer of gold, James Marshall, was born November 17, 1876. The family were intimate friends of General Sutter and James Wilson Marshall.