San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM THEODORE TSCHIERSCHKY
A well-known ranchman, William
Theodore Tschierschky has not only made a signal success in the cattle
business, but has shown his aptitude in the successful management of the post
office in Tracy, San Joaquin County,
During his administration business has so increased that an additional
rural route has been installed and the post office has become a second-class
one. A native of California, he was born
in Stockton on April 11, 1870, a son of Ernst Maxmillian
Louis and Meta Gesino Carolina (Beneker)
Tschierschky.
His father was born in Prussia on October 3, 1836, while his mother was
born on May 7, 1850, in Hanover, Germany.
His father went to sea when he was sixteen years of age and followed
that life for sixteen years; he made his first trip to America in 1857 on a
vessel bound for New York from Marseilles; in 1863 he was employed on the
steamer Delaware, charted by the government, to carry supplies to various
points, with headquarters at Port Royal, remaining with them for one year when
he went to work on the steamer Liberty, engaged in Havana, Cuba and New York
trade. On October 1, 1868, he arrived in
California via Panama; settling in Stockton he entered the employ of W. M.
Boggs in his lumber yard and before the end of 1869 had constructed his own residence
on Pilgrim Street, where his nine children were born and reared, the subject of
this sketch being the oldest. He owns
considerable real estate in the Dent and Elliott districts of this county,
which he has leased. He has always been
an active, public spirited citizen, and a loyal supporter of the land of his
adoption; he is now living retired in Stockton.
William Theodore Tschierschky
received his education in the public schools of Stockton and later entered the
Stockton Business College and was graduated in 1888; then he was employed at
the L. Smith lumber yard in Stockton as a salesman for five years. Desiring a change of occupation he entered
the State Bakery and there learned the trade of baker and confectioner. From 18996 to 1899 he was foreman at the Naumkeag Bakery. In
1898, Mr. Tschierschky had grubstaked a man to go into the Klondike country
with the understanding that he was to have an interest in all claims that were
staked out. The months went by and no
word was received from his partner, so late in the summer of 1899 he set out
for the Klondike country. Reaching the Monook country, 1,000 miles up the Yukon, he spent a
terrible winter, endangered by hunger and hardships, but was fortunate to
survive that terrible experience. In the
spring came the news of the rich strike at Nome; his party built boats and
floated down the Yukon River with the first break of ice, hoping they would
reach Nome among the first seekers, but upon arriving they found a city had
sprung up as if by magic. In the fall of
1900 he returned to California and remained in Stockton until the spring of
1901, when he again set out for the Nome gold fields. Some rich deposits were located, but sluice
mining on the shores of the rivers brought them the best returns, the average
for the short season being $250 per day.
Mr. Tschierschky had received all the thrills of adventure that he cared
for, and as the season advanced returned to California content to remain. He opened a bakery and confectionery at Port
Costa and after two years sold out and returned to the old homestead at Ripon
and farmed his father’s ranch to grain and stock five years.
While residing at Port Costa, Mr.
Tschierschky was married to Miss Marie Mecklenberg,
born in Davenport, Iowa, a daughter of Mrs. Doris Mecklenberg
of Tracy. They are the parents of six
children: Helen, Leland, Greta, deceased
in infancy; Thelma, Freda and Florence.
In 1908 the family removed from the ranch to Tracy where Mr.
Tschierschky opened a bakery and confectionery store, conducting same in modern
up-to-date manner, continuing for five years when he sold out to take a much
needed rest. During 1905 Mr.
Tschierschky set out a vineyard of Tokay grapes in the Ripon district, it being
one of the first in that locality; he also has considerable real estate in
Tracy. Mr. Tschierschky, about two years
ago, began breeding registered Holstein cattle on his alfalfa farm, one mile south
of Tracy, the stock being selected from the best herds in the west. He is a member of the California State
Holstein Breeders Association and the American Holstein Breeders Association. He was very active in the organization of the
General Milk Company’s condensery at Tracy which will soon produce 50,000
pounds of manufactured product per day.
In 1914 Mr. Tschierschky received
appointment as postmaster of Tracy and his service has been entirely
satisfactory to the community; his conscientious and efficient work receiving
the approval not only of the community which he serves, but the administration
at Washington. He has been the
vice-president of the Western Loan & Building Association since its
organization at Tracy in 1921. In
politics he is a Democrat. Fraternally
he is past grand of the Tracy Lodge, I. O. O. F., a member of Tracy Encampment
and the Canton at Stockton, as well as the Grand Lodge.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1015. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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