San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MAX LEETZOW
Of the sturdy and staunch pioneers
who settled in the wilds of the Golden State in the early days none were more
worthy than the ancestors of Max Leetzow, and the same sterling traits of
character which they possessed are found in him. He was born on his father’s farm in north San
Joaquin County in the Turner School District February 18, 1883. His parents were Gottfried and Mary Leetzow,
the former a native of Germany, and were pioneers the 1849, who crossed the
plains to California with an ox team train.
Our subject is the youngest of three children born to this worthy
pioneer couple, the others being two daughters, Lottie and Bertha. Gottfried Leetzow settled in San Joaquin
County, where he took up 160 acres of Government land at the west end of Kelly
Road. There he spent the remainder of
his days, passing away at the age of eighty-three in 1910, while the mother
died at the age of seventy-nine. Upon
distribution of the father’s estate, the home place was given to the subject.
Max Leetzow received his education
at the Turner District School and in boyhood learned many practical lessons in
agriculture, so that when he was old enough he began to farm for himself. He has owned and farmed several ranches in
the county; among the first was a seventeen and a half acre vineyard at
Dougherty Station northeast of Lodi, where he resided for a number of years
before moving to Lodi. He now owns a
seventy-acre vineyard five miles north of Lodi on Cherokee Road. He also owns a tract of land in Sutter
County, consisting of 192 acres; this is timber land and it is the intention of
Mr. Leetzow to develop the entire acreage to orchard.
On November 18, 1915, at Stockton,
Mr. Leetzow was married to Miss Louise Youngman, a native of San Jose,
California. She is the daughter of
Nicholas and Selma (Krauter) Youngman. Her father passed away when she was a small
girl of two years and subsequently her mother married Peter Stuter. Her mother resides in Lodi at the present
time, but her step-father passed away in 1909.
Mrs. Leetzow is the younger of three children, the others being Carl and
Alice, and there was one step-brother, Frank Stuter,
now deceased. After her mother’s second
marriage, the family removed to Santa Cruz County, where Mrs. Leetzow received
most of her education. Mr. and Mrs.
Leetzow reside in their comfortable home at 338 East Oak Street, Lodi, with
their two children, Selma Marie and Harold Max.
In politics Mr. Leetzow is a Republican, and an enthusiastic booster for
San Joaquin County. He is a well known
and popular citizen, and in many ways has performed a useful part in the
affairs of his community.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1414. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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