San Joaquin County
Biographies
FRED BAERWALD.
Classed with the enterprising and progressive business men of Lodi is Fred Baerwald, the proprietor of a grocery store located at 427 East Locust Street, where he has built up a good paying business. He was born in Vohlinien, Russia, February 16, 1861, a son of Ludwig and Anna Baerwald, both natives of Russia. Ludwig Baerwald was a school teacher in his native country and was the father of seven children by his first wife, Anna Baerwald: Samuel, Fred, and Henry grew up; while John, Martin and Edward all died while small children; the seventh died at birth, when the mother also passed away. Subsequently the father married the second time and there were eleven children in the second family: Adolph, Ernst, August, Reinhardt, Emil, Reinhold, deceased, Edward, deceased, Amelia, Ottilia, Agatha, and Mary, deceased. The father passed away at the age of fifty-three.
Fred Baerwald attended grammar school in Russia and after finishing the grade work continued his studies until he received a teacher's certificate to teach in the grammar schools of Vohlinien, where he taught the German and Russian languages for three years. At the age of twenty-one years he entered the Russian army, serving from 1882 until 1888 as a doctor's aide in the hospital department; later he became a druggist in the military hospital. After his discharge from the army he again taught school for seven years. until 1895, when he came to the United States, settling in Towner County, N. D., where he homesteaded a quarter-section of Government land; this he farmed for ten years when he sold it and bought a half-section of land in the same county; this was located near Egeland and he farmed this until 1919 when he sold out and moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and engaged in farming on a 160-acre ranch.
The marriage of Mr. Baerwald occurred on October 20, 1888, in Vohlinien, Russia, which united him with Miss Emelia Lange, a native of the same place, a daughter of Reinhold and Wilhelmina Lange. Her father was a teacher and a merchant in Vohlinien and was a soldier in the Russian army during the Turkish War of 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Baerwald are the parents of thirteen children: Elfrieda, Mrs. L. Klebaum, resides in Egeland, N. D.; Mrs. Martha Ide resides at Braham, Minn.; Meta, Mrs. A. Klebaum, resides at Egeland, N. D.; Mrs. Selma Filter and Mrs. Hertha Heath reside in Lodi; Mrs. Ella Peterson resides at Bonners Ferry, Idaho; Mrs. Alma Nystrom resides in Idaho; Irene, Gertrude, Rosamond, Ehrhard, and Alfred all reside in Lodi; the next to the oldest child, Reinhold. is deceased. The family's residence in Idaho was of only six months' duration, when they came to Lodi in October, 1920. At that time he purchased a ten-acre vineyard in Madera County devoted to Thompson seedless grapes and alfalfa, which he only held for a year, and in December, 1921, purchased a grocery store at 427 East Locust Street. In politics, Mr. Baerwald is a Republican and he and his family are members of the Lutheran Church of Lodi.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1568
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
ULRICH BARDILL.
The country of Switzerland has given to America many substantial citizens and among those in San Joaquin County is Ulrich Bardill, who owns a half interest in a fine fifty-acre ranch four and a half miles north of Stockton on Cherokee Lane Road, which is devoted to the raising of fruit, consisting of peaches, cherries and grapes. Canton Graubunden, Switzerland, was his birthplace and the date of his birth, December 29, 1872, his parents being Christ and Eva (Schmidt) Bardill. There are six children in the family: Christ, Ulrich, our subject, Peter, Mary, Celia, and Christina, all of whom are still in Switzerland with the exception of the subject of this sketch. The father was a farmer in his native land and lived to be eighty-eight years old, the mother passing away at the age of eighty-five. Ulrich received a good education in the excellent national schools of Switzerland, and at seventeen years of age came to California and found work at Redwood City in a Swiss-Italian vineyard of 110 acres; then he went to Monterey County and worked a number of years on dairy ranches at Salinas and Monterey. From there he went to San Francisco; then he removed to Eureka, Cal., where he was employed in a dairy. In 1902 he came to San Joaquin County where he bought a fifteen-acre tract of bare land, four and a half miles north of Stockton on Cherokee Lane Road. He leveled this ranch, checked it and planted it to alfalfa. This was probably the first alfalfa grown in this section and the experiment proved a success. Later he purchased twenty-three acres adjoining and then in partnership with Mr. Orogone bought another fifteen acres. In 1919 he plowed up the alfalfa and planted the land to an orchard of peaches and cherries and also set out a vineyard, which he irrigates with two pumping plants. Mr. Bardill has also improved his ranch with a house and other necessary farm buildings. He is interested in all that pertains to the upbuilding of the locality and feels that he made a wise choice when he determined to make his home here, where he has improved the opportunities that have led to success.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1569
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
JOHN LYMAN BENNETT.
An enterprising man, the owner of a quarter-section of land eight miles northwest of Stockton on Telegraph Road, John Lyman Bennett has during his twenty-seven years of residence on the ranch made substantial improvements and has just set out a vineyard as well as built a residence and made other improvements. He was born at Poplar Grove, Boone County, Ill., March 31, 1869, a son of Highland Lyman and Ellen (Coleman) Bennett. The father died when John L. was a child, and leaving his native state, he and his mother went to Iowa and then to Dundee, Canada, where his mother taught school, receiving fifteen dollars per month for her work. In this way the two worked their way to California, and in 1873 finally arrived in the Golden State and Mrs. Bennett became a teacher in the San Joaquin County schools, teaching at the Lafayette school one year and the Elkhorn district school two years. Here she was married a second time to T. F. Waller and they engaged in farming in this district until their death. John Lyman received his education in the public schools. From a youth he assisted on the ranch and at the age of twelve years he was driving a six-horse team; later on he was able to buy a place of his own, which consisted of twenty acres, where he raised grain and hogs. In 1895 he purchased his present ranch of 160 acres on the Telegraph Road, known as the old Feimster ranch and by hard work and economy has developed it into a well-improved and highly cultivated tract of land, the rich fields returning to him golden harvests as a reward for his care and cultivation.
Mr. Bennett's marriage occurred in Stockton on November 6, 1897, uniting him with Miss Margaret Walkmeister, born in Switzerland, who came to California with her parents, George and Elizabeth Walkmeister. Mrs. Bennett passed away on July 10, 1918, leaving three children, Lyman F., Neva E. and Erma Ruth. Fraternally Mr. Bennett is a member of the Red Men of Stockton, arid politically he is a Republican.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1569
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.