San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CARL DANGERS
Over fifty years have passed since
Carl Dangers came to California to cast his lot with the pioneers. He was born in Hanover, Germany, on September
11, 1840, a son of William and Rebecca (Engehausen)
Dangers, also natives of Germany, both parents now deceased. Mr. Dangers is descended from an old Huguenot
family in France, the name being D’Angers. Members of the family were obliged to flee
from France at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and after
settling in Germany the name became Dangers. The father brought is family on a
sailing vessel, the trip taking forty-nine days, and they landed in Galveston,
Texas, in the fall of 1854. The father
bought a section of land in Gillespie County, Texas, and engaged in cattle raising then removed to Mason County. At the time of his settling in Texas the
country was wild and desolate, with buffaloes and Indians roving the country,
but he remained there until 1873 when he sold out and came to California to
join his sons, who had previously migrated to California. There were three sons and one daughter in his
family, as follows: August, deceased;
Carl; George, deceased; and Mrs. Mina Salomon.
August Dangers came from Central America to California in the ‘60s. He settled on Roberts Island where he bought
land and farmed to grain and also raised chicory. He was married and passed away in 1907,
leaving a daughter, Juanita.
Carl Dangers’ education was obtained
in excellent schools in Hanover, and having been a student and reader coupled
with his years of experience has given him knowledge and wide range of
information. During his residence in
Texas he helped his father in the cattle business and during the Civil War
drove herds of cattle into Old Mexico where he sold them; later he drove cattle
to New Mexico and Colorado where he experienced many hardships and privations,
encountering herds of buffaloes and Indians.
Selling their cattle in Pueblo, in November of 1870 he and his brother
George came to California on an emigrant train from Denver and joined their
brother August in San Joaquin County and remained with him for two years; then
he and his brother George bought 308 acres of the Meyer ranch near French Camp
where they raised barley and chicory.
George Dangers died in 1908. In
1909 Carl Dangers sold his ranch and moved to Stockton where he invested in
real estate. He is now living retired
from active life with his sister, Mrs. Mina Saloman,
at 405 East Church Street; his niece, Miss Juanita Dangers, also resides
there. He attends the German Lutheran
Church. Mr. Dangers’ early experiences
at ranching were not all ease and comfort, but attended with hard work as well
as disappointments. He has been through
five floods, each covering the ranch, saved stock by driving to higher places,
and living in the second story, coming and going in a boat. His interest in everything pertaining to the
welfare and progress of the state is deep and sincere, and in as far as he has
found it possible has cooperated in public measures for the general good.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
580-583. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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