Santa
Clara County
Biographies
FRED UPHOFF
Among the foreign-born citizens of San
Jose none are more thrifty [ sic thriftier] or more thorough going than Mr.
Uphoff, who is a representative of Germany’s best manhood. He was born in Rieste, Hanover, July3, 1873,
a son of Herman and Lizzie (Crone) Uphoff, also natives of Germany, who came to
the United States in 1888 and located in Minnesota. The father followed farming there until his
death in Stearns county in 1899. The mother still resides in Minnesota. There were seven children born to these
parents, four sons and three daughters, and Fred was the fourth in order of
birth. He received an excellent
education in the schools of Germany, and upon coming to the new world was ready
to take up the burden of self support. [sic] In Minnesota he followed farming until 1895,
coming that year to California and settling in Santa Rosa, where he worked on a
farm for one year. In 1896 Mr. Uphoff
came to San Jose, where as a farmer and orchardist he is known as one who
thoroughly appreciates and understands his calling in every detail.
October 21, 1902, Mr. Uphoff was united in
marriage with Miss Kate Schwall, who was born in Sutter county, a daughter of Joseph and Anna Mary (Micheals) Schall, who
were born in Prussia. Mr. Schwall
immigrated to the United States in a very early day, settling in Illinois in
1862, and before he came to California had travelled all over the central
states in quest of a suitable place to locate permanently. Crossing the plain he settled in Sutter county, Cal., conducting a farm of sixty-seven acres in the
vicinity of Nicolaus until 1884. Coming
to San Jose that year, he invested in a farm near Los Gatos and in 1891 he
bought the tract of forty-eight acres on which his son-in-law Mr. Uphoff, now
lives. It is finely located five miles
southeast of San Jose, on Senter road, and is devoted almost entirely to the
raising of grain. Mr. Schwall also owned
a ranch of two hundred and twenty-nine acres near Mount Angel, Marion county, Ore. He died
in San Jose in 1902, when in his sixty-fifth year. His wife was born in Prussia, Germany, and
now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Uphoff. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Uphoff, to whom they have given the name of Joseph in honor of his maternal
grandfather. The Uphoff family worship
in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in San Jose, and politically Mr. Uphoff is a
defender of Democratic principles.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker, July 26, 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 699-700. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Louise E. Shoemaker.