Stanislaus
County
Biographies
FREDERICK MEINECKE
In the history of a man who has
devoted his energies entirely to business life there is little to awaken the
interest of the reader in search of a sensational chapter, but Carlyle has said
that “biography is the most profitable of all reading,” for therein are set
forth the methods which have been followed to win success or which have led to
failure. The careful student may therefore
learn valuable lessons from such as career as Mr. Meinecke’s,
for he is one who has worked his way upward, conquering all obstacles and
advancing steadily on the highway to prosperity by determined purpose and
ceaseless energy.
Mr. Meinecke
was accounted a progressive farmer in Stanislaus County, his home being ten
miles northwest of Modesto, and he is also one of the honored California
pioneers who in 1849 became identified with the interests of the state. He was born in Germany April 28, 1823. His father, Frederick Meinecke,
married Miss Margaret Allmeras. He served as a first lieutenant in the
Prussian army at the Battle of Waterloo, and departed this life in the
forty-eighth year of his age, while his wife attained the ripe old age of
ninety years. They were both members of
the Lutheran Church and in their family were six children, but only two are now
living.
Mr. Meinecke,
the only representative of the family in California, was educated in his native
country, attending the forestry school.
In 1848 he bade adieu to home and friends in the fatherland and sailed
for New York City. He had learned to
read English before his immigration but could not speak it, and therefore he
was somewhat handicapped in the outset of his life in the new world. From New York City he made his way westward
to Wisconsin. He had not been long in
that state before the news of the discovery of gold in California reached him
and he at once determined to go to the El Dorado of the west. He therefore joined a company of about
sixty-five men, who traveled in a train of thirteen wagons drawn by oxen,
having a plentiful relay of those animals.
They had no trouble with the Indians and there were many interesting
incidents and experiences in connection with the long journey across the
plains. They killed buffaloes and were
thus supplied with fresh meat, and Mr. Meinecke
really very much enjoyed the journey to the Pacific coast, being ill not a
single day of the trip.
In the latter part of October the
company with which he traveled arrived at Hangtown,
now Placerville and he engaged in mining on the northern branch of the
Calaveras River. In connection with his
partner he was the discoverer of O’Neal’s Bar, where
he took out much gold; but he engaged in prospecting and spent much of his
money in a fruitless search for better diggings. In the fall of 1850 he took up his abode on
the Calaveras River, near Stockton, and was engaged in freighting from Stockton
to Murphy and other camps in the mountains.
That was then a paying business, which he followed until the spring of
1852. He then returned by way of the
Nicaragua route to Wisconsin and purchased one hundred and fifty head of heifers
and milch cows, at a cost of from fourteen to
eighteen dollars each. These he brought
out across the plains to California, spending the winter at Salt Lake and
starting early in the spring for the Golden state, where he was assured of good
pasturage for his stock. After his
arrival in California he sold some of his cows, getting from one hundred to one
hundred fifty dollars per head. However,
he kept many of them and later the prices declined.
For a few years Mr. Meinecke resided at Liberty and thence removed to
Georgetown, El Dorado County, where he engaged in the conduct of a meat market
and in the butchering business for several years. Subsequently he removed to Murphy, in
Calaveras County, where he engaged in the dairy business until 1858. In that year he returned to Germany and was
married to Miss Sophia Hayssen. With his bride he then came again to his home
near Stockton, where Mr. Meinecke operated a ferry on
the Stanislaus River about ten miles northwest of Modesto, conveying teams and
people across the river for a period of three and a half years. He then removed to his present location, ten
miles northwest of Modesto, in Stanislaus County, and became the owner of eight
hundred acres of very valuable land, which he has placed under a high state of
cultivation. He erected his present
delightful residence and surrounded it with shrubbery and shade and fruit trees
of his own planting, and here in his comfortable home he is spending the
evening of life, enjoying the fruits of his former toil and the respect of his
fellow men.
He has four children, namely: Edward, who cultivates the home farm;
Catherine, Margaret and Sophia. Mr. and
Mrs. Meinecke have long traveled life’s journey
together, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years have passed
by. Mr. Meinecke
has been a life-long Democrat, and since 1852 he has been a valued member of
the Masonic fraternity, being raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in
Wisconsin. He now belongs to the blue
lodge in Stockton and the Royal Arch chapter of Modesto. The hope of bettering his financial condition
in America has been more than realized and he is now the possessor of a
handsome competence, which is the merited reward of his earnest labor.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 657-659. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2011
Gerald Iaquinta.