San Joaquin County
Biographies
JACOB GERTEN
JACOB GERTEN was born on the
Rhine river in Prussia, in February, 1833, his parents being John and Eveline
Gerten. John Gerten followed farming exclusively in that country. In the family
there were seven children, four boys and three girls. Jacob, the subject of
this sketch, was raised on a farm and remained at home until eighteen years of
age, when he came to America, sailing from Antwerp in 1852 and landing in New
York. His funds being exhausted he worked in New York for a month or two, then
finished learning the trade of blacksmith. After three months spent there he
came to Chicago, where he remained fifteen months and purchased property, which
he afterward sold and went to St. Louis, thence to Memphis, Charleston,
Vicksburg and New Orleans, in all of which places he worked for the railroad
company. In the spring of 1856 he came to California, via the Isthmus, arriving
in San Francisco that same year. He spent a year in mining, but with poor
success. He then came to this valley and worked at his trade and on ranches
till 1859, when he returned to Tennessee, but being taken sick he came once
more to California via the Isthmus. He remained for a while in Alameda County,
thence came to Stockton and engaged in driving teams, which occupation he
followed for ten or twelve years.
In 1871 he purchased his present property
of 160 acres, on which he moved his family and has, since that time, been a
continuous resident. He was married in 1863 to Miss Wilhelmine, a native of
Saxony. They have six children, one boy and five girls, namely: Mary, wife of
Wallace Galesby; Maggie, wife of William Tecklenburg; Lucy, Bertie, and Minnie.
Mr. Gerten is a member of the I. O. O. F. of Stockton and of the Knights of
Pythias, No. 41.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 593. Lewis Pub. Co.
Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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