Sutter
County
Biographies
JOHN SCHEIBER
John
Scheiber, one of the best known dairymen of the Sacramento Valley, has reached
his present position through earnest and intelligently directed effort along
definite lines. He is the owner of one
of the best improved and most valuable ranches in his section of the valley and
is recognized as one of the community’s best citizens. Born at Schattdorf, Canton Uri, Switzerland,
on the 2nd of April, 1872, he is the thirteenth in order of birth of
the fifteen children born to Karl and Annie (Furrer) Scheiber, who also were natives of that country. The father was engaged in the real estate
business, specializing in buying and selling farms, and also dealt in
livestock. He was a well educated man,
of ripe judgment, and served as a government appraiser. He died November 25, 1909, at the age of
eighty-one years, and his wife passed away August 15, 1892, at the age of
fifty-eight years.
John
Scheiber attended the public schools of his home neighborhood
and later spent four years in the schools of France, where the family lived for
several years. In 1892, when twenty
years of age, accompanied by two of his sisters, Henrietta and Anna Scheiber,
and two nephews, Ambrose and Oswald, he left home and emigrated to the United
States. After a stormy voyage of
eighteen days, they landed at New York, and on January 10, 1893, arrived in
Sacramento, California. Six brothers,
Ambrose, Jost, Joseph, Anton, Albin
and Morris, and one sister, Josephine, who later passed away, had preceded
them. Mary, another sister, is the wife
of Frank Schibig and resides at Nicolaus.
John
Scheiber located in Sacramento, where he soon found
employment as a dairy worker. He saved
his wages and later, in partnership with three of his brothers, Morris, Joseph
and Albin, purchased six hundred acres of land near Nicolaus. To this they added by purchasing the Prichard
and Redfield ranches, becoming the owners of two thousand six hundred acres of
fine land, on which they operated large dairies and manufactured cheese. A portion of these holdings were sold in 1905
at a good advance, and later John Scheiber and his brother Joseph became the
sole owners of the Redfield ranch. They
conducted a dairy there until 1911, when the sold to good advantage what was
then called the Nicolaus ranch. In 1918
John and Joseph Scheiber extended their business into Placer County, where they
became the owners of three hundred and seventy acres of land, two miles
northwest of Lincoln, where they established and conducted a dairy, which is
now owned by Joseph Scheiber. Since 1911
John Scheiber has devoted his attention mainly to his dairy at Nicolaus, which
is one of the largest and finest in the valley.
He has remodeled the residence, making it a modern country home,
provided with all conveniences, and surrounded by well kept grounds, ornamented
with flowers and shrubbery. The home is
presided over by Mrs. Scheiber, who is an ideal housewife and hostess, and the
spirit of hospitality and good cheer is always in evidence.
Mr.
Scheiber has shown excellent judgment in the character and quality of the
improvements which he has made on his farm, the most prominent features of
which are his large, well built barns and the milk house. He keeps two hundred and fifty head of high
grade Holstein cattle, one hundred and twenty-five of which are milch
cows. Everything about the place is
clean and orderly, special attention being given to sanitary conditions. The milk house is equipped with a
refrigerating plant for precooling the milk, which is sold to the Capital Dairy
at Sacramento that sends its trucks to the dairy for the milk daily.
On
January 8, 1899, at Sacramento, Mr. Scheiber was united in marriage to Miss
Anna Theresa Linggi, who was born and reared in that city and is a daughter of
the late Frank and Marianna (Holdener) Linggi, who were natives of Canton
Schwyz, Switzerland, and came to the United States together in 1876. Frank Linggi became a merchant in Sacramento,
and later engaged in ranching at Elkhorn.
Mr. and Mrs. Scheiber are the parents of three children, Otto, Ona
Otilla and Carl. Mr. Scheiber is a
member of the Sons of Herman at Nicolaus and he and his family are members of
the Roman Catholic Church at that place.
Mr. Scheiber is essentially public-spirited and in every possible way
contributes to the civil and social welfare of his community. He received a good education in his native
land, being able to speak, German, French and English, and also had military
training, having served the required time in the army. He is giving his children good educational
advantages and the family are held in high regard throughout
the community.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 106-108. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sutter County Biographies