San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HERMAN ANTHONY LANGE
Twenty-two years ago Herman Anthony
Lange cast in his lot with the Californians and has never had any occasion to
regret this decision. Depending upon his
own resources from an early age he has steadily advanced until he is now the
owner of a fine twenty-five acre ranch located four miles southwest of Lodi on
Kettleman Lane, one-half of which is devoted to vineyard and the other half to
raising alfalfa. He was born at Grand
Island, Nebraska, March 16, 1882, a son of Henry and Katherine (Hake) Lange, both parents natives of Indiana. Henry Lange was a woodsman by trade and on
September 27, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, 27th Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, where he served for three years.
He was in eight major engagements during the Civil War, including the Battle
of Gettysburg, and he was twice wounded.
During his service he contracted scurvy, from which he never fully
recovered. There were nine children in
the family: Anna and Mrs. Elizabeth Engles are deceased; Mrs. Margaret Roche now residing in
Sacramento; John William lives in Marysville; Herman A., the subject of this
sketch; Harry C. lives at Marysville; and Katherine, the widow of F. A. Zimmers, resides in North Platte, Nebraska.
Herman A. Lange received but little
education, for he was obliged to walk five miles through the cold and sleet to
school, and when eleven years old he started to earn his own way, his first job
being to herd cattle on the plains of Nebraska.
At the age of seventeen he went to Colorado and worked for a year at
Boulder and then in 1900 with his brother John, came to California and worked
for a year in the fruit at Roseville; then the brothers went to Sacramento and
worked for a year for Castle Brothers.
He then made a visit to his old home in Nebraska, remaining during the summer,
and returned to California in the fall with his brother Harry, this time
settling in Sacramento. Here they found
employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, where Herman A. served
an apprenticeship as a machinist.
Completing his apprenticeship he then worked for the Moran Ship Building
Company at Seattle for a year; then returned to Sacramento, where he took a
course in a business college. He then
became operator at the power station for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company
at Sacramento; later he went to Bremerton, Washington, where he was employed as
an electrician and helped to rewire the battleships Tennessee, Colorado and
Pennsylvania. Once more he visited his
old home in Nebraska and from there went to Schenectady, New York, where he
worked in the testing department of the General Electric Company; next he went
to New York City, where he had charge of the testing department for the Third
Avenue Railway Company, and then went to Toronto, Canada, and found employment
with the Buick-McLaughlin Automobile Company.
Returning to California he helped lay 6,000,000 feet of conduit with
wires in the city of Sacramento. He then
returned east and was employed by the Hudson Motor Company at Detroit.
On August 7, 1911, at Sault Sainte
Marie, Michigan, Mr. Lange was married
to Miss Esther Florence Thibault, born in Bay City,
Michigan, a daughter of William and Virginia (Beneteau)
Thibault, natives of France and Canada, respectively,
who came to the United States when young.
William Thibault was captain of the E. K.
Roberts, one of the first passenger steamers on the lakes, running between
Detroit and Bay City. He passed away
leaving his wife and four children; subsequently the mother married again and
became the mother of six children by her second husband. Mr. Lange is the third of her father’s
children, who were as follows: William, Vollie, deceased, Mrs. Lange, and Francis. Mrs. Lange received her education in the
schools of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and after finishing school taught for
two years; then began the study of nursing and was in training at the time of
her marriage to Mr. Lange. Mr. and Mrs.
Lange are the parents of four children:
Beatrice E., Florence B., Glenn A., and Virginia M. Again returning to California, Mr. Lange
conducted a dairy for three years on the Cosumnes River in Sacramento County;
in 1915 he became superintendent of the Henderson ranch on Dry Creek in San Joaquin
County, where he remained for a year when he purchased his present place of
twenty-five acres. He improved the ranch
with a good house, set out twelve and a half acres to vineyard and planted the
balance to alfalfa. Mr. Lange is a
member of the Knights of Columbus of Lodi, while Mrs. Lange is a member of the
Y. L. I. of Lodi and also conducts a branch of the San Joaquin County Free
Library.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George H., History of San
Joaquin County, California , Pages
1562-1563. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases