San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM G. MICKE
One of the most successful grape
growers in central California, William G. Micke, is a native of Missouri, where
he was born on April 25, 1874, and reared on a farm until he was twenty-one
years of age. In 1895 he removed to
Nebraska where he engaged in farming for two years; then he came to California,
settling at Florin, Sacramento County, with a capital of three dollars, but
plenty of grit and determination. He
worked as a ranch hand for a year, then rented the place and ran it for four
years, and here he received his first knowledge of grape culture. In 1902 he removed to Lodi and one year was
occupied by ranch work and in 1903, in partnership with John Merrill, he
purchased the old race track ranch on Cherokee Lane and Lodi Avenue consisting
of fifty-six acres, planting his half to Tokay grapes, while Mr. Merrill
planted his to peaches. While his vines
were growing he bought small crops of fruit and grapes and shipped them through
the local packing house. In 1908 he
purchased the interest of Mr. Merrill and erected a packing and shipping shed;
in 1918 he bought twenty-five acres more adjoining on the south and in 1919
twenty-four acres adjoining on the north, making a total of 105 acres. He ships his products under the “Race Track
Brand,” which has become a very popular brand in the eastern markets; he also
buys Tokays in the open market and in 1920 shipped 100 carloads from his
packing house, receiving $1,000 per acre for his grapes. Recently Mr. Micke purchased the Simpson
grain ranch two and a half miles south of Lodi, consisting of 465 acres, 400
acres of which is now planted to grapes; the purchase price of the property was
$140,000.
The marriage of Mr. Micke united him
with Miss Julia Harrison, a daughter of Bruce Harrison, one of the early mayors
of Stockton. It is not an usual thing
for a man arriving in a new county with such limited capital to make such a
pronounced financial success as has Mr. Micke, but his financial independence
is not his only success, for he has been able, by his thorough and expert
knowledge of viticulture, to lead many growers to a fuller understanding of
grape culture, thereby becoming a most potent factor in the development of the
Lodi section.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
760. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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