San
Joaquin County
Biographies
EDWARD PRESZLER
California is noted throughout the
world for its splendid orchards and vineyards; and conducting important
business enterprises along these lines are many men of activity and energy, who
in this department of labor have gained desirable success. Of this class is Edward Preszler, a
prosperous vineyardist residing in the vicinity of Victor. He was born in Hutchinson County, South
Dakota, on January 7, 1891, his parents being George and Margareta (Schnaidt) Preszler, both natives
of southern Russia, born near Odessa.
The former came to America with an older sister when he was seven years
old, his parents having died when he was three years old. The mother came with her parents from Russia
when she was three years old. They were
reared in Hutchinson County, South Dakota, and there they were married. George Preszler, when a boy of fourteen
years, went to work for his brother-in-law, and for six years worked for him
steadily. At the end of that time he had
saved $1100. His wife received $500 from
her parents and with their combined capital they purchased 240 acres and began
grain and stock raising, adding to their original farm until they had 320 acres. In 1901 they came to California with their
family, arriving in Lodi in February of that year. He purchased 154 acres, a stubble-field, near
what is now Victor; and with the aid of his children he improved it to
vineyard. In time the whole ranch was
improved. Since 1921 he and his wife have
lived retired in Lodi.
Edward Preszler is the eldest in a
family of eight children, the others being Emma, Mrs. Kirschenmann
at Victor; Henry, on the home place; and Allina, Ida, Martha and Lenhardt. Edward
Preszler spent the days of his boyhood in the place of his nativity, residing
there until 1901, when he came with his parents to California and attended the
Harmony Grove, Alpine and Lockeford schools, in the interim between school
terms assisting his father on the home ranch.
The marriage of Mr. Preszler
occurred on August 3, 1913, in Lodi, and united him with Miss Ella Heil, a
native of Hutchinson County, South Dakota, and a daughter of Peter and Caroline
(Neuhardt) Heil, both
natives of Russia. Her father, Peter
Heil, came to the United States in 1887, and her mother was only one year old
when she was brought by her parents to America.
Peter Heil is prominent as a successful vineyardist and independent
packer of San Joaquin County, and has also been prosperous as a buyer and
seller of vineyard property. They were
the parents of eleven children, only seven of whom are now living. Emanuel and Ella were born in South Dakota;
and Leodine, Freda, Theodore, Eugene and Regina are
all natives of California. Mr. and Mrs.
Preszler are the parents of four children:
Bertha, Alfred, Irene and Raymond Reuben.
Mr. Preszler continued to aid his
father on the home ranch until he was twenty-two years of age when his father
assisted him in the purchase of his first ranch, the present place of forty
acres on Locust Avenue. A part of the
place was set out to vineyard, and Mr. Preszler continued the development. It is now all in a full-bearing vineyard with
a small orchard, a good, comfortable residence, and suitable farm
buildings. In 1920 he purchased five acres
in vineyard just outside of the city limits of Lodi; and again in 1921 he
purchased a ten-acre vineyard south of Kettleman Lane on the Alpine School Road. His entire holdings of fifty-five acres are
in full-bearing vineyards. His home
place of forty acres was a part of the George Tretheway place, and on this Mr.
Preszler has built an irrigation plant with a four-inch pump and ten-horse
power motor. Aside from the growing of
fruit, Mr. Preszler is also interested in packing and shipping fruit. Seeing the need of a local packinghouse where
he and his friends could handle their own fruit, he purchased a packing plant
at Victor and then, interesting nine others, organized and incorporated the
Northern California Fruit Company, Inc., of which he was president the first
year. He turned the packing plant over
to the company, and now they pack and ship their fruit. The members of the company grow about 300
cars of fruit a year. At present Mr.
Preszler is vice-president and director of the company. In his political affiliations he is a
Republican. He and his family are
members of the German Reformed Church in Lodi.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1124-1127. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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