San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MARTIN LAMMERS
When one considers the important
part played by irrigation in the development of central California, the
enviable status of Martin Lammers will be apparent, for he was one of the
well-known citizens of his district, honored especially for his efforts in the
development of water for irrigation. A
native of Germany, he was born in Hanover on October 26, 1831, and was
fortunate in receiving a good education in the public schools of his native
country. In 1854 he left his native land
for America and arriving in San Francisco he engaged in the mercantile business
until 1866, when he located in the San Joaquin Valley, where he settled on the
plains near what was then known as Mohr’s Landing. From a humble financial condition he worked
himself upward to a position of prosperity and prominence through reading,
observation and practical experience.
During the session of 1876, Mr.
Lammers was a member of the General Assembly of California and gave his support
to the Republican Party; he was the author of and introduced what is now known
as the West Side Irrigation bill, comprising a section extending from Tulare
Lake to Antioch, California, the purpose of this bill being to provide
irrigation for this section of the country and thus reclaim its arid lands for
cultivation. He was an alert and active
member of the House and his public career, characterized by a patriotic devotion,
bore much fruit which can now be traced through the succeeding years.
Fraternally he was a charter member
of Sumner lodge of Odd Fellows and the Knight of Pythias of Tracy and his life
exemplified the beneficent spirit of these fraternal bodies, being ever true
and loyal to their teachings. The Lammersville school district, west of Tracy, is most
appropriately named in honor of Martin Lammers and his two brothers, Dietrich
and Neil Lammers, who also came to California in early days, and who are now
deceased, all men of genuine worth and held in high esteem in their
community. Mr. Lammers lived to witness
much of the growth and prosperity of the section which he labored so hard to
build up and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past with
its hardship and privations and the progressive present with its advancement and
opportunities. Mr. Lammers passed away
on November 2, 1909, mourned by the entire community for which he had
accomplished so much.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
430. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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