Santa Clara County
Biographies
HENRY DREISCHMYER, JR.
HENRY DREISCHMYER, Jr. The brick manufactory with which
Henry Dreischmyer, Jr., is connected is one of the
most important industries in San Jose, the product being shipped to all parts
of this section of the country and necessarily adding much to the financial
resources of the city. Up to the present time San Francisco has used about
thirty-five million of the San Jose brick, which has won a reputation for
excellence on account of the fine quality of clay from which it is
manufactured. Mr. Dreischmyer has an unlimited
supply of this clay which is obtained from the banks of the Coyote creek, a
purchase which he made shortly after entering business for himself in 1889. At
the same time he built a continuous Hoffman down-draft kiln, which burns coal
screenings, and which has a capacity of five million brick. Mr. Dreischmyer has met with success and the results of his
work are evidences of the business ability, unerring judgment and keen
foresight which have brought about the complete upbuilding of this industry,
and made the owner one of the foremost financiers of the community.
The Dreischmyer family is of
German origin, the father of our personal subject, Henry Dreischmyer,
Sr., being a native of Lippe-Detmold, Germany, from
which city his father, a farmer by occupation, emigrated
to Chicago, Ill., and there made his home until his death. Henry Dreisehmyer, Sr., was a child when he came to America, and
in Chicago he grew to manhood and learned the brick-maker’s trade. Deciding to
follow the tide of emigration in its westward course he came to Santa Clara county in 1859, and establishing a brickyard conducted the
same for a time. Removing to New Almaden, this county, he engaged in the
manufacture of brick in that location for two years, when he located in San
Jose and continued in the same business. In Gilroy, where he afterward located,
he engaged in a brickyard for a time when he took up the lumbering business and
at the same time was interested in grain-raising. Through the misfortune of a
fire he lost the greater part of his property about that time. A few years
later, after his return to San Jose, he became a stockholder in the San Jose
Brick Company, and acted as manager of the yard on Third and Keyes streets
until they sold out. He then engaged as a farmer and orchardist at Mayfield
until his retirement from the active cares of life, when he located again in
San Jose, where he now makes his home at the corner of Third and Keyes streets,
at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife, Catherine Ashman in maidenhood, is a
native of Hamburg, Germany. Born of this union were six children, four sons and
two daughters, the sons only surviving: Henry, Jr., of this review; Frederick,
of Mountainview, superintendent and manager of the
Kimball Brick Company; W. J., deputy sheriff of Santa Clara county and
resident of this city; and Frank L., an orchardist and attorney, also of
this city.
Henry Dreischmyer, Jr., was
born in New Almaden, Santa Clara county,
June 11, 1866, his boyhood years being spent principally in San Jose
and Gilroy, where he received his education in the common schools. At the age
of ten years he was set to work as driver of a team on his father’s farm, thus
early being taught the energy and industry which characterize the Teutonic
race. In 1882, when sixteen years old, he came to San Jose and entered the
employ of the Peterson Brick Company and remained with them for two years. He
then worked under his father in the employ of the San Jose Brick Company for
the ensuing four years, at the end of which period he entered business for
himself, leasing the site which he now occupies and putting in all necessary
machinery, and bringing to bear all modern methods, which have resulted in the
success that now numbers his business among the most important industries of
San Jose.
In San Jose, November 26, 1903, Mr. Dreischmyer was united in marriage with Emma Zingg, who was born in Decatur, Ill., and came west with
her parents when only a child. In his fraternal relations Mr. Dreischmyer is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 522,
B. P. O. E., and Palo Alto Parlor No. 82,
N. S. G. W., in the latter organization serving as president.
Politically he adheres to the principles advocated in the platform of the
Republican party, and always actively interested in
public affairs he served for one term as a member of the board of police and
fire commissioners. In the interests of his business he belongs to the Standard
Brick Association of San Francisco and wields a wide influence in business
affairs. Recently Mr. Dreischmyer invested in
real estate and is erecting a beautiful $5,000 residence at the corner of
Eighth and Marguerite streets.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 03 July 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
1252-1253. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Marie Hassard.