San
Joaquin County
Biographies
THEODORE HENKE
A successful grain farmer, highly
esteemed as one of the pioneers who contributed much, at the expense of years
of toil and much personal sacrifice toward making the prosperous and attractive
San Joaquin County of today, is Theodore Henke, whose ranch interests are near
Vernalis. He was born in Pomerania, near
Berlin, Germany, on June 11, 1864, and spent his early years on his father’s
farm, enjoying some of the superior educational advantages for which his native
land has so long been famous. In
October, 1882, he came to America, and located on a farm at La Crosse,
Wisconsin, where he spent about three years prior to his coming to
California. He remained in San Francisco
until 1887, working at the carpenter’s trade; and having taken up that
handiwork, he made himself one of the most painstaking and accomplished of
journeymen, always giving satisfaction by his honest labor. He had received, in blood and home-training,
a priceless legacy from his parents, his father being Charles Henke, a native
of Berlin, Germany, who passed away in that city on February 8, 1906, while his
mother, who is still living in Pomerania, at the age of ninety-two, was Wilhelmine Basko before
marriage. Our subject was preceded to
San Francisco by his brother, August, who came out to California in 1884.
In 1889 Mr. Henke took up grain
farming near Vernalis, and he has owned his ranch since 1905. In 1889, too, he was married to Miss Eliza
Gerlach, who was born in New York City, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. and Mary
(Kruse) Gerlach, both of whom are now deceased, who were sturdy pioneers in
Stockton and on the West Side of San Joaquin County. Three children have sprung from this
fortunate union. Herman was born on
September 14, 1895, and gave great promise to his many friends; but he was
killed in an accident near Vernalis during the harvest season of 1916. Then came Olga, and after her Theodore,
Jr. Besides his fine tract of 466 acres
of grain land, Mr. Henke owns a valuable residence property in Tracy, evidence
of his prosperity, the fruit of long industry and unimpeachable integrity. He was admitted to citizenship at Stockton in
1887.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1131-1132. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases