USA > California > Fresno County > History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume II > Part 127
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11
Miguel Villanueva
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
After his arrival in California, August Toreson began at the lowest rung of the ladder of success, and by dint of hard labor, industrious and frugal habits he had saved enough money by 1901 to purchase his present ranch of twenty-seven acres. At the time of purchase only a part of the land was cultivated but he soon began to improve the place and has brought it up to a high state of productiveness, besides which he has built a beautiful house which is equipped with modern improvements. The product of his ranch consists of peaches and grapes of a very fine quality.
The year 1901 was a very propitious one for August Toreson, for it not only marks the beginning of a life of independence in business affairs, by the purchase of his ranch, but it also records his marriage to the woman of his choice, Mrs. Amanda C. Anderson. By a former marriage she was the mother of three children: Walter, who served in the United States Army, in France; Redena; and Ruth. The marriage of August Toreson with Mrs. Amanda C. Anderson was blessed with five children: Elmer R .; Elvira Myrtle ; Mabel A .; Helen M .; and Robert L. On February 27, 1916, Mr. Toreson was bereft of his loving wife and companion, and the children of a mother's tender care and devotion.
Mr. Toreson is highly esteemed in his community and is regarded as an enterprising and successful rancher. He belongs to the Apricot and Prune, Raisin and Peach Growers associations.
HANS AUTSEN .- One of the prosperous young ranchers of the section near Reedley, and one for whom his friends predict greater successes in the future, is Hans Autsen, a native son of California, born in Monterey County, on May 23, 1887. His parents are Chris and Mary Autsen, both natives of Denmark. Chris Autsen was born in 1846 and emigrated to this country in 1882. The thrifty and frugal characteristics of the Danes usually bring them success in whatever place they choose to locate. Chris Autsen became an extensive farmer and stockman and was well known as an expert judge in buying and selling stock. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Autsen were the parents of three children; the subject of this sketch, Hans, was the oldest.
Hans Autsen was engaged with his father in the stock business and also in farming, and his excellent management and good judgment were a great aid to the success of the enterprise. For the past five years he has been engaged in the fruit industry and is now operating 120 acres devoted to raisins, peaches, beans and grain. He is a member of the California Asso- ciated Raisin Company.
In 1913, Hans Autsen was united in marriage with Miss Ella Johnson, born in San Francisco, in 1888, a daughter of M. and Catherine Johnson. Her parents have lived in Fresno County for over thirty-five years and are well known in business and social circles.
JOHN WALLERS .- An enterprising, broad-minded and progressive citizen, who has long been a resident of Fresno County, and active in develop- ing its natural resources, and an upbuilder of the district in which he has en- joyed his prosperity, is John Wallers, who was born in the Rhine province, Germany, on February 25, 1867, the son of Mathias and Elizabeth Wallers, worthy farmers of that place. Six of their children grew up, and among them John was the second youngest. He was reared on a farm and attended the public schools, and spent his youth at home.
To escape military service when he was twenty-one, he came to the United States in March, 1888, and soon traveled to the middle west and the northwest. As early as 1890 he made his way to Tacoma, and a year later came south and located in Fresno County, seeking a warmer climate. He began to work in the vineyards and orchards, and little by little familiarized himself with Central California ways.
In 1898, Mr. Wallers bought his present ranch on Melvin Road, five miles north of Fresno, at that time forty acres of unimproved land; and ap- 113
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
plying himself vigorously to the task, he transformed it into as valuable an asset as it was highly attractive to the eye. He set out twenty acres in a muscat vineyard, and planted twenty acres of Calimyrna figs, being one of the pioneer growers of Calimyrna figs in Fresno County. He built a resi- dence and added the necessary outbuildings. Believing in corporation, he is an enthusiastic member of the California Associated Raisin Company, the California Fig Growers Association and the California Peach Growers, Inc.
While at San Francisco, in 1896, Mr. Wallers was married to Mrs. Madeline (Long) Thonen, born in Bessarabia, Russia, who died here in 1908, the mother of five children: Madeline, now Mrs. Williams, who lives at Delano, Cal .; Walter W., who is ranching at Clovis; H. Theodore, who is with the Southern Pacific in Fresno: Emil J .; and Clarence R. The present Mrs. Wallers was Mrs. Katie E. (Knaup) Pinnecker, their marriage oc- curring March 5, 1918. An independent in politics, Mr. Wallers belongs to the Hermann Sons and also to Manzanita Camp, Woodmen of the World.
CARL HITZL .- A citizen of the Parlier district in Fresno County, who has gained a name and place for himself, is Carl Hitzl, representative for the Setchel Fruit Company in the Lacjac district, buying, packing and shipping green fruit. This position he has held since March 1, 1919, due to the en- forcement of the national prohibition laws, as he was formerly superintendent of the Sanford Winery and Distillery at Parlier.
Mr. Hitzl was born in Austria in 1870, reared and educated there and graduated from the Polytechnic at Vienna. He specialized in chemistry and followed his chosen calling in his native land prior to coming to America, which he did in 1892. He was located in New York City for a time, later went to Chicago and in 1907 came to California. In 1913 he took a position with the Sanford Winery at Parlier in Fresno County, acting as chemist and superintendent, as he had had many years of experience in the making of wines. He has spent a year in various parts of Europe making a special study of the methods used there.
The plant over which he had supervision covers a tract of ten acres and had fine shipping facilities, being situated between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads. He handled from 5,000 to 10,000 tons of grapes each season and the product was shipped to eastern markets. The business was established by Lachman & Jacobi in 1900.
In 1893, Carl Hitzl was united in marriage with Mame Martin and they have a son, Harry Hitzl. Fraternally Mr. Hitzl is a Mason, belonging to Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2, F. & A. M., in New York City.
HENRY H. KRAMER, JR .- One of the progressive young ranchers living in the vicinity of Sanger and owner of forty acres of land three miles west of that town is Henry H. Kramer, Jr. His father, Henry Kramer. Sr., is a native of Russia, born February 5, 1872, about seventy-five miles from Saratov, a son of Jacob Kramer, who married Katrina Tripple. Jacob Kramer died when his son, Henry, was twenty-one years of age. Henry at- tended the German schools in Russia and also learned to speak the Russian language, and when he was twenty years of age he married Margretha Schrader, and this union was blessed with five children: H. H., Jr .; Mina, the wife of August Scheibelhut, a rancher near Sanger; John, Willie and George, Henry Kramer, Sr., remained on his father's farm in Russia until he was over twenty years of age when he went to work on a ten-thousand-acre farm owned by Meyer Bros. By hard work he soon rose to the position of fore- man, remaining with the owners for nine and a half years, when he wanted to resign and leave for America, but was persuaded to remain with them four years longer. In 1908, however, Mr. Kramer, accompanied by his family, sailed for the United States via Liverpool, landed in New York City, and thence continued their journey to Visalia, Cal., where they had a relative. There Mr. Kramer was employed in a brick yard for three years. He then
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
came to the vicinity of Sanger, purchased forty acres three miles west of Sanger, on North Avenue, built a comfortable home and improved the place by planting vines and trees.
H. H. Kramer, Jr., was born August 1, 1893, in the valley of the Volga River, Russia, and accompanied his parents to California in 1908, being then about fifteen years of age. The family arrived in Visalia, Cal., on October 15 of that year, and on January 1, 1912, H. H. Kramer, Jr., moved to Fresno County where he became owner of a splendid ranch of twenty acres, it being half of the land owned by his father and given to the son. This property he sold in May, 1919. Mr. Kramer rents 200 acres of land whereon he successfully operates an extensive vineyard and has become one of the largest growers of raisins in this section of the county, employing eight men regularly and during the packing season, thirty-five extra persons. After selling the home place Mr. Kramer bought forty acres adjoining on the north- east, where he will make his home.
On February 1, 1914, H. H. Kramer, Jr., was united in marriage with Miss Christina Winter, daughter of Karl Winter, a sketch of whose life will be found on another page of this history. This happy union has been blessed with three children: Clara, John, and Alvena. Mrs. Kramer is a devoted mother and an excellent helpmate to her husband, who is a man of splendid character and business ability. The family is held in high esteem.
WILLIAM ORR .- A resident of California for more than fifty years, William Orr is well and favorably known for his genial good nature. He was born in Prince Edwards Isle, April 15, 1848, and his father Capt. William Orr was born on the Clyde in Scotland, coming when ten years of age with his parents to Prince Edwards Isle, where he grew to manhood and learned the ship-builders' trade and afterwards he engaged in ship building. Later he sailed his own vessels as master or captain in the coasting trade following it until he retired and then came to California in 1874 where he spent his last days. William Orr's mother was Janet Semper, born in Prince Edwards Isle of Scotch parents; she also died in California. They had twelve children as follows: James was accidentally killed when he was nineteen years of age; Margaret is the wife of Captain McLeod who came to California in 1867 and resides in Pacific Grove; Elizabeth, Mrs. Webster, came to California with William and resides in San Luis Obispo; William, our subject; Robert, a dairyman near Hollister; Lemuel died while residing near Hollister; Oliver is also a dairyman at Hollister; Maria Jane is Mrs. Lamont of San Francisco ; Mark came to California in the early seventies, he started overland for Lead- ville, Colo., and was lost track of for a time but the family finally learned he had been killed by Indians enroute; Albert lives near Hollister; Harriet M. is Mrs. McCobb of Pasadena, and Richard is a farmer near Lemoore.
William Orr was reared on his father's farm on the Atlantic Coast, for although a seafaring man his father lived with his family on a farm and he received a good education in the district schools of his native place. William did not like the life of a sailor so he naturally gave all the more attention to farming as he grew up and chose that for his calling. In October, 1869, he came to San Benito County, Cal., where he was employed at ranching until November, 1873. He then purchased a band of sheep and drove them to Fresno County. He bought a claim on the Polvadero and had his headquarters there. As early as 1874 he hauled his wool to Fresno, then a small place. They had mail once a month and he used to drive over the Coast Range via Pacheco Pass to Gilroy for his provisions for the first three years. In 1884 he located on his present place; here he bought out a man's location and took a preemp- tion and then a homestead, this being the nucleus of his present large ranch. He was successful raising sheep though he had many ups and downs. In 1877, the dry year, he lost heavily and it broke him for the time being, but he went ahead and in time cleared the debt he had contracted. At times his flocks have numbered 10,000 head. From time to time he purchased more land and now
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
owns about 4,000 acres. His headquarters are about twenty miles southeast of Coalinga the ranch lying on the Fresno and Kings County line and is watered by Tar Creek as well as numerous springs and wells. The last few years he has also engaged in cattle raising. He is a stockholder in the Hanford National Bank. Always interested in education he helped build the first schools of his district in Fresno County while living on the Polvadero. Always a protectionist, Mr. Orr is a stanch Republican.
C. FELIX LARSON .- The lineage of the Larson family is traced to the far northern country of Finland, where the subject of this sketch, C. Felix Larson, was born on December 12, 1879. He was reared and educated in his native country, and in due time learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1902, he immigrated to the United States and spent the summer season in Alaska, where he was engaged in carpenter work. He continued to conduct his business affairs in this way for six years, when he purchased a tract of land in Fresno County, upon which he spent considerable money in develop- ing it and trying to raise crops, but owing to a scarcity of water the crops were a failure and he was obliged to abandon his project and leave the place, but he decided to try again and in 1908 he purchased his present ranch of fifteen acres. The land was in its virgin state, but by hard work and in- dustrious efforts he has succeeded in developing the place to a most at- tractive home. His buildings are well constructed, modern and conveniently arranged ; in fact, his place is the most desirable one in the community. Mr. Larson specializes in peaches and Thompson's seedless grapes. He belongs to the Peach and Raisin Growers associations.
On August 24, 1916, C. Felix Larson and Miss Olga Marie Arnell were united in marriage and this union has been blessed with two children: Olave Daniel and Theodore Felix Leonard. Mr. Larson is a self-made man, hav- ing been dependent upon his own efforts for a livelihood since a young man. He has made a place in the world for himself by overcoming adverse circum- stances, and through his self-reliant spirit and determined will has attained success.
HANS LINSHOFT .- A well-posted landscape gardener who comes of a family distinguished for its scholarly and educational pursuits, and who now has improved for himself one of the choice places in Fresno County, is Hans Linshoft, a native of Germany who came to California a decade and more ago. He was born at Rutenbeck, Mechlenburg-Schwerin, on March 19, 1880, the son of Theodore Linshoft, for many years an educator and still living. His mother was Louise Langermann, also a native of that section; she died in 1889, mourned by five children.
Hans was the second eldest in the family, and enjoyed the usual school advantages. When fifteen he was apprenticed to a florist and landscape gar- dener, with whom he continued for three years; then he went as a journey- man through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and neighboring terri- tories, to widen his knowledge of the science and art in his field, and there- after served two years in the Bavarian Army.
By 1906 the New World began to appeal to him more than his own country. He came direct to Fresno, Cal. by way of Galveston, and secured a position in a vineyard in Holland Colony, where he began to study California con- ditions, especially viticulture. Because of his previous broad experience as a gardener, he soon mastered the new line of work; and as he was industrious and plain in living, he made steady progress toward a modest independence, where others failed. In two years he had saved enough money to enable him to lease some land in the Victoria Colony, and there he engaged in gardening, selling his produce in Fresno. At the end of three years, he began to care for vineyards and orchards in the same locality ; and having during the year established some reputation for expertness in that line, he rented a vineyard on Blackstone Avenue and brought the land to a high state of cultivation.
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Andres Errotabere Joaquina Errotabere
2497
HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
In the fall of 1912 Mr. Linshoft bought this twenty acres in the Granville district and at once began extensive improvements, planting it to alfalfa and setting out a vineyard; and about the same time he became foreman of the Malter vineyard in the same neighborhood. A couple of years later, he re- signed to give all his time and energy to his own property ; but in 1916 he was again in charge of the Malter place. The twenty acres referred to he has given up to alfalfa, vines and figs. The ranch is under the Fancher Creek canal, from which it receives an adequate supply of water, and now includes a fine residence and all the necessary outbuildings. Mr. Linshoft's work in viticulture has proven absorbing, and he has become an enthusiastic advocate and member of the California Associated Raisin Company.
At Fresno, Mr. Linshoft was married to Mrs. Pauline (Adloff) Linshoft, a native of Thuringia, Germany, and the widow of his brother. One child, Lillie, has blessed their union. Having very early applied for his first natural- ization papers, Mr. Linshoft was made a full citizen of the United States on December 18, 1911. He belongs to the Hermann Sons and the Woodmen of the World. In religious matters he is independent.
ANDRES ERROTABERE .- A splendid example of a young man who has made a success of stockraising by his steady, close application to busi- ness is Andres Errotabere, a native of Bastan, Navarra, Spain, born Novem- ber 27, 1884, the seventh oldest of thirteen children born to Jose and Marie Errotabere, who removed from Bastan, Spain, to Biagorry, Basses Pyrenees, France, in 1884, and there the mother died while the father is still living. Three members of their family, Andres, Pedro and Martin, are in California and are engaged in the stock business together.
Andres was reared on a farm in the south of France, the family being very large. Having learned of the wonderful possibilities in California that awaited young men who were willing to work he came to San Francisco in 1903. Making his way to Los Banos he was employed by a stock grower, working for a period of three years at twenty-five dollars a month. During this time he drove the owner's sheep into the high Sierra mountains. In the fall of the year he has been caught in the snow, thus enduring great cold and hardships. By his industry and economy he saved enough money so that in 1906 he purchased a band of sheep and ranged them in the San Joaquin Val- ley. In 1909 he came to Huron and this vicinity has been the scene of his operations ever since. Aside from sheep and wool growing he went in for grain raising, leasing about 1,500 acres of land for the purpose. In 1917 he took his two brothers, Pedro and Martin, into partnership.
Mr. Errotabere was married in Fresno April 25, 1916, being united with Miss Joaquina Esnoz who was born in Olodres, Navarra, Spain, who came to Fresno in 1911, and is a sister of Mrs. Domingo Bidegaray. They have two children: Jose Andrew and Martin J. They are members of the Catholic Church in Coalinga.
GEORGE ANDREAS GLEIM .- A hard-working and successful rancher in the De Wolf school district, who has turned his fields of wheat stubble and weeds into blooming acres with fruitful harvests, and who by thus contribut- ing to solve the economic problems of the war-time is deserving of the re- spect and good will of his fellow men, is George Andreas Gleim, who owns and operates twenty acres now planted to peaches and Thompson seedless grapes. He bought his place on August 29, 1903, and moved onto the land on the twenty-sixth of the following December. He and his family then took shelter in the barn, which they converted temporarily into a dwelling house, which served them until he built his fine bungalow in 1912. In the beginning, the weeds were often six and seven feet high.
Mr. Gleim was born in the Province of Samara, on the Volga, at Prewalnaja P. O., in the Colony of Skatowka, Russia, seventy-five miles east of Saratov. His parents, Heinrich and Christina Margareta (Nilmeier),
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
Gleim, were farmers who lived and died in Russia. He grew up on his father's farm, where he early learned to handle horses and stock, and to drive oxen hitched to plows, and also to tread out the wheat, rye, oats and barley in their manner of threshing in that region.
He attended the German schools and for two years attended the Russian public schools. When twenty-one, he served five years in the Russian army, guarding the boundary line between Russia and Austria. After that, on February 15, 1894, he was married and for six years farmed in Russia. Then reading about California, he decided to leave the Old World and come here.
He sold out his holdings in Russia and with his wife and three children crossed to Bremerhafen, Germany, from which port he took passage on the steamship Borkom, which ran between Bremen and Galveston. After twenty- two days on the ocean, he took the Santa Fe to Fresno, where he arrived on July 27, 1900. He had only seventy dollars when he came here, but he im- mediately took work on a ranch, putting in ten hours a day for one dollar and a half. He continued to work for others in that way that season; and then he moved to Fresno and built a little house at 626 E Street, where he lived while working at odd jobs at a dollar and a quarter for a ten-hour day.
His next move was to buy his present place, and he had to borrow $100 to make the first payment, and the undertaking was by no means light; but his good wife helped him, and together they worked very hard. To equip himself to dig the earth out of the irrigation ditches, he traded his town house for a four-horse team and scraping outfit. His brother-in-law, Peter Lieder, about that time took the contract of bundling the brush on the Fresno Winery ranch, and Mr. Gleim worked steadily for him for two months, from four o'clock in the morning until eight in the evening, when he made just thirty-three dollars for the two months.
Mr. and Mrs. Gleim are the happy parents of four children, having also lost an equal number in death. Christina is the wife of Fred Seibert and they live in Fresno with their two children, LeRoy K. and Stanley Frederick ; and there are Bertha K., Harry G., and Lloyd W. Mr. and Mrs. Gleim and family belong to the German Lutheran Church on F Street in Fresno, which church's edifice he helped to build.
Mr. Gleim was naturalized on March 26, 1914, and early joined the ranks of the Republican party. He is a booster for Fresno County, and was active in the sale of war bonds, and helping the Red Cross. As a happy family, they have an ideal life in the country. Mrs. Gleim is an excellent cook and knows how to make appetizing and nutritious foods from the prod- ucts of the farm.
HARRY S. SERIAN .- No people of modern times have been so perse- cuted in their native country as the Armenians, and many of that nationality have sought refuge from their Turkish oppressors in the United States, which continues to be a haven of refuge as in the earlier days of its colonial history when the Pilgrim Fathers sought a home beyond the sea where they might worship their God as their consciences dictated.
Fresno County has quite a contingent of Armenians in various sections, among who, in the vicinity of Selma, Harry S. Serian, the Armenian rancher, is well known. His highly improved 160-acre ranch lies four miles east of Selma. Mr. Serian's four brothers spell their name Serimian, the difference in the orthography of the names probably arising from a change in the asses- sor's books and in deeds, which was allowed to remain.
Harry S. Serian was born near Harpoot, Armenia, forty-eight years ago. and came to America in 1891, when nineteen years of age, without financial means and in debt for the money which paid his passage to the United States. He repaid the money borrowed for his passage out of his first earnings, and later sent back one thousand dollars to help his father in Armenia, besides assisting his four brothers and mother to come to California. His father, Sar- kis Serimian, a drayman in the old country, died in Armenia after his son
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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY
Harry came to America. His mother, who in her girlhood was Lillie Kujo- lian and who is now approaching seventy years of age, lives with her youngest son, Jacob Serimian, on their near-by ranch. Two of his sisters are living in Armenia. His brother, A. S. Serimian, has a wife and four children, and lives on his ninety-acre ranch near our subject. Another brother, C. S. Serimian, is married and has three children, and is the owner of an eighty-acre ranch. G. S. Serimian, called Charlie, has a wife and two children, and lives on the S. McCall road, three miles south of Selma, on his forty-acre ranch. Jacob, with whom the mother lives, also owns a forty-acre ranch.
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