San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ROBERT LAUDENBACH
A representative San Joaquin County
rancher whose steady, substantial success has marked the progress of
agriculture in this favored section is Robert Laudenbach, who was born near
Atlanta, San Joaquin County, on October 24, 1872, the son of Henry and Barbara
(Becker) Laudenbach. His father was born
in Hesse-Castle, Germany, as was his mother, who came from Gravenhausen,
in the Rhine section of Germany of what was called Rhine Bayern; the former was
an immigrant to the United States in 1852, when he crossed the ocean, came
inland to Kentucky, and settled at Louisville.
There, being a cooper, he worked at his trade for a short time, and then
he came to St. Louis, Missouri, proceeding from there to New Orleans, where he
again worked at his trade.
In 1854, Henry Laudenbach, stirred
by the reports from the new gold country, came on to California, by way of the
Isthmus route, landing at San Francisco; and from there he went directly to the
mines on the Sacramento River, and at Placerville followed mining for the next
four years. He then came into San
Joaquin County in 1858 and settled at Atlanta, and he purchased a half-section
of very sandy soil, which he farmed until 1875 when he sold out and moved to a
point northeast of Stockton. There he
settled what was known as the Murray ranch, of 200 acres, which he leased for
eight years. He next purchased the ranch
where our subject now resides, locally called the old Nelson rancho, situated
four miles from Stockton on the Waterloo Road, and consisting of 300 acres,
which he farmed for many years or up to the time of his death in 1912,
eighty-one years. Of these original 300
acres, 100 have been sold off and the balance has been so divided that our
subject now owns ninety acres, which are devoted to grain farming.
Six children made up the family of
Mr. and Mrs. Laudenbach, and Mary, the present Mrs. Renner, was the eldest in
the group and lives in Stockton. Fred
and George are in Stockton; Robert, Eda, and Henry W. The mother died in 1898. Robert attended the grammar school of the
August district, where he had a solid preparation for the duties of life. Except for four years spent on a grain farm
of 240 acres located further out on the Linden Road, he has always lived on the
old place, which has a house which was there when his father moved onto the
farm, and which is said to be at least fifty years old. Mr. Laudenbach finds his social pleasures
largely in the congenial circle of Iroquois Tribe No. 35 of the Red Men of Stockton. He has been twelve years a trustee of the
August School District; independent in politics, he tries to vote only for the
best men and the most approved measures.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1575. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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