San Francisco County
Biographies
ALBERT
JOHN HECHTMAN
HECHTMAN, ALBERT
JOHN, Vice President and Treasurer, Fresno Irrigated Farms Co., San Francisco,
Cal., was born in Minneapolis,
Minn., July 18, 1857,
the son of Henry Hechtman and Sophia K. (Weinell) Hechtman. His
grandfather came to this country from Bavaria, first settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to Minneapolis, then known as St. Anthony
Falls, and engaged in the real estate business. Mr. Hechtman’s father, a well-known soap manufacturer of Minneapolis, was a member of the Territorial Legislature of
1857. The son went to California
in 1876, and in December, 1880, was married at Minersville to Miss Caroline
Cooper. By this marriage he is the father of Judson O., born in 1881;
Henry A., in 1882; Walter I., 1888, and C. Belle Hechtman,
1891.
Mr. Hechtman attended the public schools of his native town,
and for a while he was a student at the business college. In 1871 he was
graduated from the University of Minnesota, whence he joined his father in the Minnesota Soap
Company of St. Paul, Minn.
After several years
in this business he spent several more in traveling and taking life
comparatively “easy. He was unhampered by any urgent needs, and was
determined to let the strenuous life wait upon the necessity of leading
it. Reaching San
Francisco in 1876,
he went shortly thereafter to his uncle’s ranch,
which at that time was situated within the present city limits of Los Angeles. Here he lived for the next few years, getting a
practical experience of ranch life and forming the ideas of irrigation which he
has since developed into a positive hobby. Toward the end of this decade
he became interested in mining, went over into Trinity county,
invested in some gravel and quartz properties there, and by working in various
capacities acquired a practical knowledge of the business. This experience
was valuable, but somewhat costly. In 1880 Mr. Hechtman
shifted the field of his activities to railroading, and until 1884 was
assistant agent of the Southern Pacific at Los Angeles, rising, from ‘85
to’90, to the post of General Agent of the Union Pacific Railway. He
then became attracted by the fruit shipping business, wherein he was made vice
president of the Porter Brothers Company, composed of Nate
R. Salsbury, Washington Porter and Fred
Porter. With them he remained nine years, gradually enlarging his
interests until they included the considerable number of concerns of which he
is now an officer.
During these years
Mr. Hechtman was located variously between Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno and Kerman, stimulating his interest in irrigation by much reading
and practical observation. He has gathered together a large library, and
although his tendencies have been chiefly commercial, art and literature are
with him almost an avocation. He is fond of automobiling,
and was formerly an ardent hunter and angler.
Besides his vice
presidency of the Fresno Irrigated Farms Company he is vice president of the
First National Bank of Kerman, and the Cal. Stock Food Co. From 1897 to 1902 he
was a director of the Booth-Kelley Lumber Co. and of the Cal. Pine Box &
Lumber Co. For three years he was vice president of the Oregon Land &
Livestock Co.; formerly a director of the Truckee River General Electric Co.,
Reno Light, Power and Water Co., and the Floriston
Pulp and Paper Co. His clubs and associations are: Pacific-Union,
Bohemian, Press, San Francisco Golf and Country; California, of Los Angeles; Sequoia,
of Fresno; Sutter, of Sacramento, and the Madera County; Merchants
Exchange, San Francisco; Cal. Development Board, San Francisco Chamber of
Commerce, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the S. P. C. C.
Transcribed 11-29-06 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press Reference Library, Western
Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 172, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
2006 Marilyn R. Pankey.
California
Biography Project
San
Francisco County
California
Statewide
Golden
Nugget Library