San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FREDERICK KUCKUK
An experienced, enterprising and
unusually successful rancher is Frederick Kuckuk, who is farming Delta land
about thirteen miles southwest of Stockton, on Upper Roberts Island on Middle
River. He was born in the principality
of Lippe-Detmold, on October 25, 1857, a son of
Frederick and Augusta (Peiper) Kuckuk,
and was reared on a farm, enjoying the best of educational advantages as the
son of well-to-do and affectionate parents.
On November 18, 1884, he was married to Miss Lena Elbracht,
a native of the nearby Westphalian Bielefeld, and the
daughter of G. Henry and M. Elizabeth (Meyer zu Hadelager) Elbracht, sturdy
farmer-folks. In 1886, Mr. and Mrs.
Kuckuk came out to America and spent six months at Cairo, Illinois, but they
came out to California, and in the spring of 1887, arrived at Williams & Bixler ranch on Union Island.
Mr. Kuckuk commenced ranching on the
lower reclamation of Union Island, establishing himself there with a partner,
Will Schmidt, now the banker at Tracy; and in 1888 he plunged the first plow to
disturb the soil of the newly-reclaimed lower division, and from the start met
with fair success. The following year,
the prospects were bright for a very good crop; but a break in the Grant Line
Levee caused a fatal loss. He then tried
farming on the middle division, but gave it up to move to Roberts Island; at
the same time he rented a large farm in Napa Valley and farmed in both places
until 1896.
In 1917, Mr. Kuckuk moved to his
present home, where he has had almost phenomenal success in the operation of
300 acres devoted to the stock business—the raising of hogs, sheep and cattle,
alfalfa and grain, and also some of the finest bronze turkeys ever seen in this
section. He makes a specialty of the
Poland-China hogs, crossing with pure-bred Berkshire, which matures for market
in six months time upon his delta ranch; and he has established an enviable
reputation for himself as an agriculturist.
He enjoys the esteem of all who know him, and the devotion of a wide
circle of friends. He has seen many
remarkable changes in the Delta region, and has personally undergone many
hardships due to farming in such a district.
In Judge Smith’s Court at Stockton,
Mr. Kuckuk was made a citizen, and since then he has marched with the
Republicans, as has also his wife. He
has two children: Frederick, Jr., is now
a prosperous rancher in Paradise, West Side, San Joaquin County; and Louise,
who was the first white girl born on Union Island, is now the wife of H. Z. Bardin, whose life-story is elsewhere related in this
volume.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1216. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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