Solano County
Biographies
WALFRID BURKIMAN
WALFRID BURKMAN, a superintendent of the brick department of the Union Press Brick and Terra Cotta Company of San Francisco—whose works are situated at Vallejo—has been engaged in the manufacture of brick for the past nine years. Born in Landskrona, Sweden, in 1850, he attended the public schools up to the age of fifteen years; then, until nineteen, he was learning the machinist’s trade, and then commenced traveling as a journeyman, working in machine shops in Germany three years, Vienna one year, Constantinople three years, various cities in Asia, then Greece, Italy and Switzerland. Then, after spending three years in his native country, he came, in 1879, to the United States, and for three years was employed in machine shops in Chicago, especially in the machinery department of the Anderson Pressed-Brick Company; and while there he invented a number of improvements, taking out five patents, three of which were for reducing the various kinds of clay to fine powder, and two for a brick-pressing machine for pressing the dry clay into brick; and some of his devices were used by the Anderson Company. In November, 1886, he removed to the Pacific coast, first locating at Los Angeles, where he was engaged by a pressed-brick company; and while there he invented another reducer and an improved brick-pressing machine, for which he received patents. His machine is now used by the Los Angeles company and by the works at Vallejo. These bricks are intended more for ornamental purposes than anything else, selling for $40 per thousand, while the ordinary brick sells for about $10. However, by means of the machinery invented by Mr. Burkman, brick can be made by the dry process, not so finely finished, and consequently not requiring expensive labor, that could be sold almost as cheaply as the fine-finished brick and that would stand four times the pressure. The brick made by the common process require drying for a number of days and additional handling, while brick made by Mr. Burkman’s process are ready for the kiln immediately. Mr. Burkman is now superintendent of the brick department of these works and a stock-holder. The establishment has a capacity of 12,000 bricks in ten hours, and it can be easily enlarged to double its present capacity.
Mr. Burkman was married in Chicago, in 1880, to Miss Mary Jones, a native of Sweden, who died in 1885, leaving one child, Werner. Mr., Burkman is a member of the First Swedish Lodge, No. 479, I.O.O.F., of Chicago. He still retains stock in the Los Angeles Pressed-brick and Terra Cotta Company.
Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Betty Wilson