Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOHN HARRELL FREYSCHLAG
JOHN HARRELL FREYSCHLAG. The high standing of John
Harrell Freyschlag as a wine merchant of Los Gatos by
no means overshadows his attainments in other lines of business, to all of
which he had brought clear judgment and that concentration of thought which insures
success. This amiable and popular man has spent practically all of his
self-supporting life this side of the Mississippi,
and has learned his lessons, not in the seclusion of the office or counting
room, but upon the character-developing plains of several western states, and
in the occupations of cattle raising, mining and
farming. Born into a family of moderate circumstances, and on a farm eight
miles from Fayetteville, Washington
county, Ark.,
November 28, 1857, his surroundings differed materially from those of his
ancestors, who were well known in the busy marts of trade in Frankfort, Germany.
In that historical town on the Main, which is the center of the commercialism
of the empire, and one of the first banking cities in the world, Herman Freyschlag, the father of John, was born, the latter being
now a retired resident of San Jose, this county.
Herman Freyschlag came to America in the flush of a vigorous young
manhood, and in time made his way to Washington
county, Ark.,
where he advanced from the position of farm hand to land owner. He married
Cyrene Harrell, a native of Washington
county, who died in 1864, when only twenty-five years old, leaving seven children,
of whom John was the sixth. The following year Herman Freyschlag
removed to Washington, Franklin county, Mo., where he
abandoned the trade of miller, which he had learned in Frankfort, and to which, with farming, he
devoted many years of his life, and started a general merchandise store,
managing also a small farm. About 1876, some years after his second marriage,
he became interested in California, and with
his family took up his residence in San
Jose, where, at the age of eighty-seven, he still
clings to the interests and enthusiasms of earlier days.
John Freyschlag remained with
his father in San Jose until 1879, and then
began an independent career in the mines and on the cattle ranches of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Montana,
spending the greater part of his time in the latter state, the immense
resources of which he fully appreciated, and financially profited by. In the
meantime he married, and three children were born into his family, Oscar K., Carlysle H., and Herman E., who, with his wife, accompanied
him to his present home, which he purchased from his aunt, Sophia H. Knapp.
Almost immediately he became interested in wine growing and wine manufacturing,
making a specialty of clarets and white wine, and increasing his capacity each
year. At the same time he has improved his home farm of three hundred and
fifty-five acres, and another farm of sixty-five acres near Madrone.
Needless to say that his experience has kept pace with modern innovations, or
that his properties are equipped and operated according to scientific and
practical methods. In 1901 Mr. Freyschlag
married for a second wife Nellie T. Pierce,
of Madrone, Cal.
He is a Republican in politics, and votes with keen and intelligent knowledge
of the candidates and offices at stake. He is a generous contributor to
charitable and other causes, and is unquestionably one of the broad minded and
highly appreciated citizens of this part of the county.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 22 September 2015.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page
781. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marie
Hassard.
Santa Clara Biography
Golden Nugget Library