Tehama County

Biographies

 

M. W. MULLER

M. W. Muller, one of the substantial and well known residents of Tehama county, residing at Tehama, was born in Henry county, Iowa, September 7 1859, a son of Max and Henrietta A. (Gnekow) Muller, the former born on the Rhine in Baden, Germany, while his wife was a native Prussian. Max Muller came to the United States and settled in Missouri, where he followed farming and cabinetmaking. He came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and also crossed the plains twice. His first trip was made in 1852. Eight children were born to Max Muller and his wife, one of whom died in infancy, and four survive, namely: M. W. ; John V., who has been a foreman with the Southern Pacific Company for over forty years at Oakland; Rudolph C., working in San Jose for the National Biscuit Company; and Mrs Mary E. Thompson, a widow who resides in San Jose.

M . W. Muller was five years of age when his parents brought him to Tehama county. His father was the first to engage in mining in Plumas county, but the floods of 1862 washed him out of business. He then started to work as a carpenter at Tehama, and here died in 1885. His wife passed away in 1880. Both he and his wife were Christian people, and valuable citizens of the community in every respect.

M. W. Muller now lives in the old homestead alone, but maintains his home in the same style and with the same customs followed by his family since the early days. He worked at any available job during the early days, was a carpenter for a time, and then for some years operated the warehouse at Tehama, handling grain and other products. For several years he also engaged in the undertaking business, in the days when the horse-drawn hearse was the utmost in fine equipment. He now owns five acres in the city of Tehama and the old homestead, which comprises two city blocks, most of the acreage being planted to prunes.

Mr. Muller has been prominently identified with local affairs, for eleven years was a trustee of schools, and for five years was a trustee of high schools for Tehama county. His political affiliation is with the republican party. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for fifty years and also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Red Bluff.

Mr. Muller was married in 1886 to Miss Mattie Wallace, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Robert and Eliza (Maloney) Wallace, both of whom died in Pennsylvania. Mrs Muller taught school for five or six years in Tehama county and was a well educated woman, and a devoted wife and mother. She passed away July 21, 1925. Mr. and Mrs. Muller were the parents of four children, namely: Henrietta, the wife of C. H. Sommers, who is engaged in the butter and egg business in San Francisco; Robert Wallace, who married Evelyn Numer and lives and Red Bluff, California, where he is assistant manager of the Pacific Gas & Electric Power Company; Elizabeth, a teacher in the grammar schools of Red Bluff, who married L. E. Daly, also with the Pacific Gas & Electric Power Company; and Agnes J. married J. N. Froome, who is a member of the Red Bluff police force. L. E. Daly, the husband of Elizabeth Muller, is a veteran of the World war, having served overseas.