San
Joaquin County
Biographies
GOTTFRIED HANDEL
A valuable ranch of fifty-eight
acres on Harney Lane, five miles southeast of Lodi, is the property of
Gottfried Handel, who is engaged in both agricultural and viticultural
pursuits. A native of South Dakota, he
was born at Menno on May 27, 1892, a son of Gottfried and Louisa Handel. When Gottfried was ten years of age the
family removed to California and settled in the vicinity of Harmony Grove school, San Joaquin County, where the father acquired a
quarter-section of land. He passed away
on this home ranch and the mother later became the wife of Lot Lachenmaier, a native of southern Russia. Mr. Lachenmaier
came from Russia and settled in South Dakota, being a pioneer of that section
of the country. He acquired considerable
land and in time became among the largest and most successful grain growers and
cattle raisers in the state. He was the
first merchant in Lehr, South Dakota, and helped to build up the community,
remaining there until 1910, when he came to Lodi. His first constructive work in San Joaquin
County was the starting of the town of Victor, where he built a store building
and conducted a store for the convenience of the rural residents. He was one of the organizers and is now the
vice-president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Lodi, and is an esteemed
citizen of the community.
Gottfried Handel received his
education in the Harmony Grove district school and until he was twenty-two
years old worked on the home place. In
October of 1914 he was married to Miss Bertha Wiederrich,
a daughter of Jacob and Katherine
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1601-1602. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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