San Joaquin County
Biographies
KARL PETER HOLM
A well-known citizen of San Joaquin
County, who was a continuous resident of the county for forty years, was K.
Peter Holm, who was born as Hasla, Bornholm, Denmark,
December 22, 1862, a son of Peter and Karen (Due) Holm, both natives of the
same province of Denmark. Grandfather
Due was a man of fine character and was well known in his locality, where he
reared nine children, Karen, the mother of our subject, being the second
eldest. Peter Holm, the father of our
subject, was a successful leather merchant and was also the manufacturer of
shoes in his native country. Two sons
who grew up were born to this couple, our subject and F. Julius the postmaster
and merchant at Avena, California. The father passed away in 1889 at the age of
sixty-nine, and the mother also passed away that same year.
K. Peter Holm received his education
in the public schools of his native land and at the age of thirteen was
confirmed in the Lutheran Church. In
1882 he got the consent of his parents to accompany his cousin, Jens Hansen, to
America. They boarded a vessel bound for
Glasgow, Scotland, and from there took a vessel bound for New York, completing
the voyage in eleven days. On the
sixteenth of May, 1882, they arrived in Stockton and the next day Mr. Holm got
a job on the Henry Minge farm near Atlanta, sixteen miles southeast of
Stockton. He knew nothing of the English
language, but applied himself to the task of learning it, and within a few
months was talking like an old-timer; later he worked for his uncle, Esper Due, who came to San Joaquin County in the early
‘50s. About 1895 he leased land from his
former employer, Henry Minge, and farmed for about twelve years, then for three
years had the P. G. Chalmer ranch near Avena, then for six years he farmed the Munson ranch of 320
acres, raising the largest quantities of barley ever produced on that
ranch. For some years he was
superintendent of the Guernsey Grain Company warehouse at Atlanta and handled
the greater part of the grain raised in that section. After his retirement in 1917 he purchased a
lot in Atlanta and erected a modern bungalow on it, where he has since made his
home. He received his U. S. citizenship
papers at Stockton and was a Republican, serving on the election boards of his
district. He was a liberal contributor
to all worthy causes and was deeply interested in all that tends to promote the
social, intellectual and moral welfare of the community. Mr. Holm died in December, 1922.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1560. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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