San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES METZLER
For the past nineteen years Charles
Metzler has made his home in San Joaquin County on his fine orchard and farm
one and one half miles north of Linden.
All of the improvements on his ranch have been made by Mr. Metzler, and
it is now one of the most desirable and profitable orchards in the valley. Forty acres are devoted to peaches, six acres
to almonds and twenty acres to French prunes, the balance of the ranch being
devoted to diversified crops. He was
born near Mergentheim, Wurttemberg, Germany, June 28,
1849, a son of Martin and Catherine (Ohm) Metzler, both natives of that
country. His mother passed away the same
year he was born and later his father was married to Miss Mary Beckstein, who proved a kind stepmother to the motherless
boy. His father passed away in 1856.
From his earliest recollections,
Charles Metzler had a desire to locate in America. He received a good education in the excellent
schools of his native land and in August, 1872, he arrived in New York City,
where he worked for three years in a tannery for nine dollars per week;
however, he saved enough money in three years to pay his way to California,
arriving in San Francisco in the fall of 1875.
He first located at Redwood City, where he conducted a bakery, but later
suffered the loss of his property by fire; he then removed to San Jose, where
he engaged in farming near Los Gatos for five years. During this time his first wife, Anna C.
(Meyers) Metzler passed away, leaving three children: Carl of Arroyo Grande; Fred of Paso Robles;
and Mrs. Annie Wilson of San Leandro. He
was married the second time in San Francisco, December 6, 1884, to Miss Helena
Martens. She was born in Oldenburg,
Germany, a daughter of John J. and Helena C. (Von Aschwege)
Martens, and the mother and the daughters came to California in 1882. John J. Martens, who was an expert miller,
died in 1868, survived by his wife who passed away in Linden, December 24,
1906, mourned by three sons and three daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. Metzler are the parents
of five children: Emma, the wife of
Adolph Dauth, has three children and they reside in
San Francisco; Henry W., represented in this history; Elise married George D.
Gill, they have three sons and reside in Bellota; Helena, the wife of John S.
Platt, has two children and they reside in Linden; Albert is a rancher. Mr. Metzler completed his U. S. citizenship
in 1882 at San Jose. From 1885 to 1903
he was occupied in general farming in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties and
while residing there was a school trustee for the Monterey and Jolon districts, serving for three terms. Mrs. Metzler’s sister, Mrs. Frank L. Meier,
came to the Linden section in 1876, where Mr. Meier has become a prominent
prune grower and is an authority on horticulture in this district. Mrs. Metzler is a staunch member of the
Methodist Church in Linden, and the family enjoys the respect and esteem of
many friends in San Joaquin County.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
855. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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