Sacramento County
Biographies
AUGUST WEGAT
AUGUST WEGAT--For forty years associated with the ranching interests of Sacramento County, August Wegat has done his full share in the development of the section around Galt, which has been his home the greater part of the time. He was born on a farm in East Prussia, July 7, 1854, the son of Ernest and Anna (Mauerichott) Wegat, the mother passing away at the age of forty-four, the mother of three sons: John, William and August. The father, who married again and reared a family, passed away at his home in Germany when seventy-three years old.
August Wegat received a common school education in the schools of his home district and when twenty years old entered the German army, where he served for three years. He then came to the Rhine country and for the three years worked at Elberfeld, and in 1881 he made his way to the United States. The first year here he spent on construction work with the Southern Pacific Railroad out of Prescott, Ariz., and in 1882 he came to Sacramento County, Cal., and worked for a while on a ranch near Galt. After spending a summer near Woodland, Yolo County, he returned to Galt and started ranching on his own account, first renting fifty acres of bottom land on the Cosumnes River, where he raised corn and beans. From year to year he added more acreage, and he has farmed all the way from 300 to 1,000 acres of land at different seasons, and is meeting with good success.
At Galt, in October, 1885, Mr. Wegat was married to Miss Mary Corock, born in the province of Posen, Germany, now a part of Poland. Her parents were Rock and Mary Corock, the father a shoemaker who passed away at Posen when seventy years old. They were the parents of eight children: Mrs. Mary Wegat; Stephan; Josephine; Margaret; Hedwig; Lawrence; Mrs. Agnes Oxander of Woodbridge, Cal.; and Mrs. Lucy Shoemaker of Red Bluff, Cal. Mrs. Wegat came to California in 1883, and here she met Mr. Wegat, their marriage occurring two years later. They are the parents of nine children: Anna married Joe Rhoda of Woodland, Cal., and they have five children; George, Gussie, Joe, Anna and Dick; George lives in San Joaquin County, as does William; August has one son, Carl; John lives at Galt; Mrs. Agnes Need of Galt has two sons - George and Lloyd; Henry, Fritz and Otto are at home. The Wegat ranch is on the Thornton road, just west of the city limits of Galt. Mr. Wegat is a Republican in politics and belongs to the Sons of Herman. Mrs. Wegat died April 26, 1923, and was buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery at Galt.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches,
Pages
928-929. Historic Record Company, Los
Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.