San
Joaquin County
Biographies
DAVID BAUMBACH
A well-known citizen and prosperous
vineyardist residing about one mile north of Victor, is David Baumbach, who was
born at Olivet, Hutchinson County, South Dakota, on May 9, 1894, a son of George
and Charlotte (Delk) Baumbach,
both natives of southern Russia who came to South Dakota from the Crimea, filed
a timber claim and located a homestead.
David Baumbach acquired his early
education in the schools of South Dakota, and resided there until he was
thirteen years old, when he came with his father to California. He is the youngest of a family of eight
children: K. G., of Lodi; Elizabeth, now
Mrs. John Bechthold, of north San Joaquin County; Helena, Mrs. Reimche, residing on Kettleman
Lane, near Lodi; George D., residing at Orland; Lydia, Mrs. Seibel, of Lodi;
Jacob, residing on Dry Creek, east of Galt; Katie, Mrs. Werner, of north San
Joaquin County; and David, of whom we write.
The father passed away in 1920, but the mother died when David was a boy
of ten years, in 1904. After arriving in
California, David had the privilege of attending the Salem School in Lodi for
three years, and then for a time attended the Emerson School. His father had purchased twenty acres of
land; and when sixteen years old, David began taking care of it. When twenty-one he started out for
himself. He became possessed of ten
acres and later added ten acres more, so that now he has twenty acres in a fine
vineyard about one mile north of Victor, on which he has erected a fine
bungalow. He has an irrigating well and
a pump that throws 750 gallons per minute, driven by an electric motor.
On January 5, 1916, at Lodi,
occurred the marriage of Mr. Baumbach, which united him with Miss Marie Young,
a native of Marion County, Kansas, born near Ramona, a daughter of John and
Elizabeth (Scheideman) Young. John Young
resided in Kansas for thirty years previous to coming to California and the
parents now reside on a ranch on Kettleman Lane, near Lodi, and are prosperous
and well-known. Mrs. Baumbach is one of
eleven children: Daniel D., of Lodi;
Marie, Mrs. Baumbach; Rachel, Mrs. Schaefer, of Victor; Lydia, Mrs. Wagemann, of Lodi; Lizzie, Mrs. Lewis Baumbach, of Acampo;
Esther, Mrs. Seibel, of Lodi; and Leah, Emanuel, Hilda, Ruben, and Eva, at
home. Mr. and Mrs. Baumbach are the
parents of one daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth.
In 1917 Mr. Baumbach went to Montana
to take up a homestead in Valley County; but in about six months’ time he
entered the service of his country, on October 2, 1917, and was sent to Camp
Lewis in Company 33 of the 166th Depot Brigade and was there one
month. He was then sent to Camp Mills,
New York, where he was transferred to Company L, 163rd Infantry, of
the 41st Division. He was
sent overseas during December of 1917, and spent Christmas on the ocean;
landing in Liverpool Christmas Eve, he was sent to Camp Morn Hill at
Winchester, then to Southampton and across the Channel to France. His company spent three months in guard duty
at Bordeaux, then Mr. Baumbach was transferred to
Company G of the 127th Infantry and trained for one month
preparatory to going to the Vosges sector, where he was stationed at St. Marie
in Alsace, in the defensive sector. He
went into action in the Chateau-Thierry and Aisne-Marne drive and was wounded
in the leg. After spending three weeks
in the hospital he was able to rejoin his company and was in the Argonne
offensive. He was again wounded on
October 3, 1918, by a piece of shrapnel that tore a hole through his left
wrist. He was sent to the hospital,
where he remained six months. He spent
thirteen months overseas, returning to the United States during January of
1919, and was discharged May 1, 1919, at the Presidio at San Francisco and
returned to his home in Victor. His wife
had made her home with her parents in Lodi while her husband was overseas. On his return, they moved onto their ranch,
and since then he has given all of his attention to viticulture. Mr. Baumbach is a member of Lodi Post No. 22,
American Legion, and of the Wounded Veterans of the World War. He received from the government the Foreign
Service or Victory medal.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1224-1227. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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