San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM HEIL
Conducting his realty operations on
a large scale, William Heil has not only made a splendid success in this field
since locating in Lodi, but was well known for his extensive development work
in several sections of North Dakota before coming to San Joaquin County. Born in Yankton, Dakota Territory, May 6,
1878, he started his business life by clerking in a store at Menno, leaving
there in 1899 to locate in Morton County, North Dakota, where he homesteaded
160 acres of land, which he developed into a stock ranch, a property he still
owns. Going to Glen Ullin,
North Dakota, Mr. Heil began his career in the realty
business, being a pioneer developer of that section and doing much to develop
it, selling land to eastern speculators, disposing of Northern Pacific Railroad
lands and locating homesteaders. In 1910
he helped to build up the town of Elgin, erecting the first store building and
residence there, and he founded the town of Heil, laying out the town site and
starting the sale of the lots the following spring in what is now a thriving
town.
In the fall of 1913 Mr. Heil removed
to Bismarck, North Dakota, and a year later he came to California and located
at Lodi, having made his first visit to California and Lodi in 1907. Here he became actively identified with the
real estate field under the firm name of The Heil Land Company, operating on an
extensive scale in the handling of ranch properties, and has bought a number of
vineyards, improved them and resold them at a fine profit. In 1919 Mr. Heil sold the Fink Bros. ranch of
fifty-five acres for $1,250 an acre, this being the first sale of vineyard land
at this high price in the county, and in 1920 part of this same land sold for
$2,000 an acre. The Trimberger
place of ten acres which he sold for $7,500 brought $27,500 three years later,
and the vineyard of John K. Bender, consisting of twenty acres, which he sold
in 1919 for $16,000, has changed hands three times in two years, bringing
$46,000 the last time, showing the increase in values in this thriving
district. The company now holds the Kirschenmann ranch of seventy acres of vineyard and orchard
on the Lower Sacramento Road, the latter property being brought up to a high
state of cultivation under the supervision of Mr. Heil. The company also owns 500 acres of bare land
of which Mr. Heil personally owns 480 acres in Merced County.
Mr. Heil’s
first marriage united him with Miss Magdalena Fink who passed away in Lodi,
leaving three children: Emma, Hilda and
Harry. On February 13, 1908, he was
married to Miss Augusta Lipelt, a native of Poland,
and this union has been blessed with the birth of two children: Loraine and Gerald William. Mr. Heil was one of the organizers of the
Farmers and Merchants Bank of Lodi and was at one time its largest stockholder,
but he recently disposed of his interests in it. Progressive in all his ideas,
Mr. Heil has been successful since first coming here, and with his
enthusiasm and belief in the future greatness of this favored district, he has
contributed much to its prosperity.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
836-836. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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