Sierra
County
Biographies
THEOPHILUS BERGER
One of Sierra County’s most
experienced and competent mining men is Theophilus Berger, whose operations
over a long period of years have gained for him an enviable reputation in the
mining circles of the Sacramento Valley.
He was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, on the 8th of
January, 1854, and is a son of John and Marguerite Berger. His grandfather, John Berger, was a sergeant
in a regiment of dragoons, and for more than one hundred years the family were owners of landed estates in Canton Berne, were
in their country’s military service, and held government positions of
authority.
Theophilus Berger received a good
education in the public schools of his native country and in young manhood came
to the United States. He landed at New
York City, where one of his sisters, Mrs. Marguerite Winter, was living. He remained in the eastern metropolis for
some time, being employed as a bookkeeper and general office man for a hop
importing house. In 1881 he came west to
Nevada and entered the assay office of the Justice mines. After leaving that position he did a great
deal of prospecting, and later obtained employment at the Comstock mine in
Virginia City, Nevada. He gained such knowledge
of mining methods and such proficiency as a mine operator that his employers
sent him to Sierra City, California, to assume the superintendency of their
Marguerite mine, near this place. He
remained in charge of that mine for two years, during which time he sank a
shaft three hundred and sixty feet deep and uncovered a lode of gold ore
running twenty dollars a ton. However,
this was turned into a stock-selling proposition and was mismanaged. After that Mr. Berger engaged in prospecting
and discovered the Mountaineer gold mine, in the vicinity of Sierra City. He sloped this mine
for a distance of three thousand feet, but it also became a stock
proposition. At present he has an option
on the Marguerite and the Young America gold mines, situated two and six miles,
respectively, from Sierra City. Both
mines are rich in gold-bearing ore, needing only the requisite capital to put
them on a paying basis.
Mr. Berger was married, at Sierra
City, to Miss Mary Seitz, who is of German descent and was born in
Downieville. They now have a very
comfortable home in Sierra City, and they have had the following children: Thelma, Mrs. A. Nickels, of San Francisco,
her husband is a traffic officer for the Southern Pacific Railway Company;
Victor, who was accidentally drowned at the Mountaineer mine at the age of
fourteen years; Mrs. J. W. Wright, whose husband is manager of the Feather
River Lumber Company at Delleker, California; Mrs. Louis Nestler, at 3220
Covington Street, Oakland; Edwin, mill man for the Murchie mine at Nevada City,
California; Herbert T., a marine engineer who is now chief engineer on the
Matson Steamship Company’s liner, “Golden Harvest,” plying between San
Francisco, Australia and Tahiti; and John Ralph, who is a member of the firm of
W. A. Stinson Company, of Elko, Nevada, wholesale and retail dealers in general
merchandise.
Mr. Berger maintains an independent
attitude in political affairs, and he is keenly interested in all things which
have a bearing on the welfare and prosperity of his home community. He has lived here for many years, enjoys an
extensive acquaintance and is uniformly regarded as one of Sierra City’s best
citizens.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 345-346. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sierra County Biographies