San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY CHARLES SCHMIDT
An enterprising rancher, who has
naturally attained to very substantial success, is Henry Charles Schmidt, the
proprietor of a choice Delta farm of nearly ninety-nine acres on Upper Roberts
Island. He was born at Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on December 29,
1862, the son of Claus and Elsbeth (Wickhorst) Schmidt, the former a member of the German
National Guards, in which he served from 1848 to 1852, and was so wounded that
he was eventually pensioned by the government.
Henry C. Schmidt, the sixth oldest
of their ten children, was twenty-three years old when he started for America
on the S. S. India, taking twenty days to cross the Atlantic, half of that time
in such a storm that the vessel almost foundered. Finally, however, they reached New York on
March 28, 1886, and soon afterward our subject greeted his brother Adolph, and
other friends, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, to which state they had preceded
him, and there he worked at farming for three years. On the third day of March, 1889, he arrived
in California, and here he has been, with the exception of the time spent in
visiting his native land. He went direct
to the Kidd Ranch, on Union Island, and worked there for a month, and then he
was employed by the Glasgow Land Company, and three months later took a job on
the St. Catherine Ranch, where he found steady employment for a year and a
quarter. He then went to the West Side
and farmed at Tracy and Vernalis, and during the plowing season he returned to
Roberts Island, where by hard work he made a start. In 1899, he bought what is now a
well-developed ranch, but was then a virtual swamp, about half covered with
tule and willows. He had to go through
years upon years of clearing and grubbing and gradual development, but he
finally won success by hard work and thrift.
He has not only prospered with his own lands, but has been able to
cultivate adjacent lands as well.
On June 27, 1897, Mr. Schmidt was
married to Miss Anna Engel, a daughter of Fred and Margaret (Jurgensen) Engel, pioneers of Roberts Island, a gifted lady
who was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on July 11, 1878, and in April,
1889, was brought to Stockton by her parents.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt. Henry first saw the light on Roberts Island
on May 17, 1898, and after graduating from school, became a rancher. Fred was born on June 24, 1899, finished his
schooling and associated himself in ranching with his brother, Henry. Elsie; Alvina;
Henrietta died in infancy; Freda died June 1, 1917, from the effects of
accidental burning at the age of thirteen.
Otto and Marie are in school.
About four years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt completed a lovely home on
their ranch, which is still the center of many enjoyable social affairs. In 1895, Mr. Schmidt made a trip back to
Germany, taking four months for the journey and visit. He is a strong advocate of irrigation, and
has developed a model and economical system of his own. He is serving his ninth year as trustee of
the Fairchild school district. In 1896
he was naturalized at Stockton, and has since been a Republican. He is a director of Levee District No. 544,
and is now serving his second term. Mr.
and Mrs. Schmidt belong to the Lutheran Church.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1156. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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