Sutter
County
Biographies
LOUIS REGLI
Among
the extensive and successful dairy farmers of the Sacramento Valley, none has a
higher reputation for the purity of product or cleanliness of property than has
Louis Regli, whose well improved farm lies about four miles south of Nicolaus,
Sutter County. Mr. Regli was born in
Canton Uri, Switzerland, on the 24th of October, 1879, and is a son
of Casper and Agatha Regli. His parents
were lifelong residents of Switzerland, the father dying at the age of
seventy-five years and the mother when ninety years old. They were the parents of five children: four sons and a daughter, of whom Louis is
the only one in California. The father,
who was a carpenter by trade, was a capable and successful builder, doing work
in both France and Switzerland.
Louis
Regli attended the public schools of his home
neighborhood, after which he learned the trade of cabinetmaking. Later he completed the military service
required by the government, and in 1904, at the age of twenty-five years,
sailed for the United States, determined to take advantage of the opportunities
afforded here for individual advancement.
He arrived at Sacramento, California, with a cash capital of fifteen
dollars, but happened to meet Morris Scheiber, who had gone to Sacramento
looking for young men to work on the dairy farm of his brother Albin Scheiber
at Nicolaus. It did not take Mr. Regli
long to accept the work offered him and, coming to Nicolaus, he entered the
employ of Albin Scheiber, with whom he remained for three and a half
years. Mr. Scheiber was at that time
operating the old Valley place, immediately south of Nicolaus. From that time to the present Mr. Regli has
always been busy and has confined his efforts to dairy farming with the
exception of one year spent as a car builder in the Southern Pacific Railroad
shops at Sacramento and about three months in the pottery works of Gladding, McBean & Company, at Lincoln, California.
In
1909, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Oswald Scheiber, Mr. Regli rented
a dairy farm, on which they started operations with very limited capital. He worked extremely hard, milked seventy-five
cows twice a day, and by unfaltering effort and careful management attained
success in this venture. The business
was continued under the firm name of Scheiber & Regli for three years, when
it was dissolved. Mr. Regli then rented
land and worked in close association with Morris Scheiber in the dairy
business. In 1925 Mr. Regli bought his
present farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, known as the old McNamara
place. Through persistent effort, backed
by keen judgment, he has achieved pronounced success in the operation of this
place. He has made many permanent and
substantial improvements on his ranch, including the remodeling of the
residence, and the erection of a dairy barn which has a capacity of two hundred
and fifty tons of hay and will accommodate ninety milch cows. The milking is done by two improved Empire
milking machines, and employs two men, who, with himself and his son, do all of
the work on the place, including the milk and the refrigerating of the milk in
the splendid milk house which he has erected.
He has spared no expense in the erection and equipping of the various
buildings on the ranch, the barn and milk house being built on concrete
foundations. An abundant water supply is
obtained from a well one hundred feet deep, while he also has other wells, the
water from which is used for irrigating his alfalfa fields. The greatest care is given to sanitation, the
barn and milk houses being kept scrupulously clean, to a degree that warranted
the California dairy inspector in giving him credit for having the cleanest and
most sanitary dairy farm in the Sacramento valley. Long and varied experience in the dairy
business has taught him every angle of the game and he takes justifiable pride
in what he has accomplished. He is
strong and active and most ably assisted by his son, a husky young man who
takes a genuine interest in the work of the farm and is very capable and
dependable. Mr. Regli sells to the
Crystal Dairy of Sacramento, which sends its trucks daily and collects the
milk. Mr. Regli has altogether one
hundred and seventy-five high grade Holsteins, large and small, of which there
are ninety milch cows. His bulls also
are high grade Holsteins and he has an excellent herd of cattle.
On
June 3, 1909, in Sacramento, California, Mr. Regli was united in marriage to
Miss Josephine Scheiber, a daughter of Ambrose and Barbara (Bear) Scheiber, and
they are the parents of two children, Melvin A, who is a student in the Sutter
Union high school in East Nicolaus, and is proving an able assistant to his
father on the farm, and Alice E., who is a sophomore in the State Teachers’
College, where she is majoring in music, being a very proficient pianist. Mr. Regli is a member of the Order of
Herman’s Sons, of which he is a past president, while Mrs. Regli belongs to the
Companion Ladies’ Order. Mr. Regli takes
a keen interest in athletics and is the president of the Swiss Sports Club of
Sacramento. He received his
naturalization papers in January, 1914.
He is a strong Republican in his political views and has shown a deep
interest in matters affecting the general welfare and progress of his
locality. He and his family are members
of the Roman Catholic Church and give liberally in support of worthy benevolent
objects. Mr. Regli deserves great credit
for what he has accomplished since coming to this state and is worthy of the
high respect which accorded him by his fellowmen.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 86-88. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sutter County Biographies