Yolo County
Biographies
August Brinck
La Orilla Rancho (which is Spanish for The Brinck ranch), located on the banks of Putah creek and commanding a fine view of the coast range, is the property of August Brinck and represents the tangible results of his splendid judgment and tireless industry. The eye of the stranger at once is attracted to the modern residence, completed in 1911 and embodying the principal features of the bungalow type of architecture. Two sides of the house are surrounded by a commodious veranda finished with native cobble-stones and floored with tile. Another attraction for the stranger is the great orchard filled with fruit of every kind and boasting fig trees that were planted in 1851 by John Wolfskill. Some of these trees have grown to such magnitude that they now measure thirteen feet in circumference and four feet in diameter, being not only the largest trees of the kind in Yolo county, but also, as far as know, in the entire state.
The owner of La Orilla rancho is of Alsatian birth and ancestry and was born October 15, 1860, into the family of Henry and Elise (Kline) Brinck. The father, who was a farmer and baker in France, spent his last years with his sons near Winters and the mother died in New York City. Four children of the parental family are now living and August is the youngest of these. When nine years of age he left Alsace with his parents and crossed the ocean to New York City, where he lived for three years. During 1872 he came to California and early began to work for his older brothers, who were orchardists in Pleasant valley, continuing with them until some years after he had attained his majority. While first working under them as an apprentice he learned every detail of horticulture, so that they paid him fair wages after he was twenty-one and thus he was able to lay aside a small sum to aid him in getting a start for himself. With his twin brother, Charles, he purchased forty acres from Buel R. Sackett in Yolo county and later added another tract of equal size. In a few years Charles died, leaving a little daughter to inherit his property and through the wise judgment of her uncle in planting the acreage in fruit trees and carefully tending the orchard her inheritance was materially increased.
Upon the division of the property in 1911 Mr. Brinck retained his portion, which he managed together with forty acres in the De Vilbiss tract one and one-half miles west of Winters. The latter place he sold in 1911. Meanwhile, in 1908, he had purchased the old De Vilbiss homestead of one hundred and sixty-seven acres one and one-half miles west of Winters, one of the old orchards of the district. With his other holdings this now gives him the title to two hundred and seventeen acres, all of which is in an orchard, with the finest quality of apricots, peaches, plums, prunes, almonds and figs. The product is packed and shipped either as ripe or dried fruit, and to aid in the work Mr. Brinck erected a packing house and drying sheds, as well as installing an electric plant, by which means water is pumped and the whole ranch lighted. The entire equipment is up-to-date. A system has been adopted that secures the largest results with the smallest possible expenditure of capital and labor. In his knowledge of horticulture he is backed by years of successful experience. His judgment concerning fruits is often sought by men in his line of business. As an expression of his high standing in the fruit industry he was selected to serve as horticultural commissioner of Yolo county and for five years he filled the position with the greatest efficiency. In addition he has been chosen a director of the Winter Dried Fruit Company and the Geraldson Fig Company.
The limit of the activities of Mr. Brinck is not represented by horticultural interests. The public school system has in him a firm champion. For years he has contributed to the educational progress of his locality and at this writing he still serves as a member of the board of education of the Apricot district and as a member of the Winters union high school board. The Citizens Bank of Winters has his name upon its roll of stockholders and directors. Near Old Buckeye, Yolo county, November 8, 1890, Rev. Henry Culton officiating, he was united in marriage with Miss Dora Wurth, a native of Yolo county and a daughter of that honored pioneer couple, John and Gertrude (Koch) Wurth. Three daughters blessed the union, Elsiedora, Pearl and Grace, the eldest of whom is now a student in the University of California, while the two youngest are attending the Winters high school. The family have their religious home in the Presbyterian Church at Winters. During young manhood Mr. Brinck was made a Mason in Buckeye Lodge No. 195, F. & A. M., at Winters and he still is identified with that organization, besides being with his wife associated with the work of Yosolano Chapter No. 218, O. E. S., also at Winters, where in addition he holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The Republican party has received his stanch support ever since he cast his first ballot and he has been a firm believer in the efficacy of its platform as adapted to the promotion of national prosperty.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “History of Yolo 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” page 342-346 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.
John Christian Luft
Davis, Yolo county, boasts no more substantial and devoted citizen than John C. Luft, who, though not a native of the United States, ever since his immigration to the new world has taken the deepest interest in matters municipal as well as social. He was born at Husum, Sleswick-Holstein, Germany, September 11, 1863, and upon finishing his education became an apprentice to a blacksmith, serving the customary four years. At the age of nineteen, alone and unaided, he came to America, where he gradually acquired the competency which is his today. For a year after his arrival in this country he worked in the shops of the John Deere Plow Company, Moline, Ill., and at the close of that period, having saved a sufficient sum with which to continue his journey west, he came to California. Arriving in 1883 in Livermore, Alameda county, he worked at his trade for a time, after which he removed to Dixon, Solano county, where for eight years he worked at his trade. In 1893 he came to Davis and purchased his present building and established the blacksmith ship which he now operates, the excellent training which he received in his native land enabling him to perform the most exacting and difficult work in his line. Besides doing a general shoeing and repair business he builds carriages and plows with a skill which is recognized and sought throughout the county. He owns not only his well-equipped shop, but a comfortable home and five lots as well, and it is to his credit that not once has he changed his location or failed in his work since his arrival at Davis, while many of his neighbors have started in business only to abandon their enterprises later.
In 1893 Mr. Luft married Miss Etta Frittz, a native of Lake county, Cal., and into their home were born the following children: John R., Oliver F., Maud L. and Lawrence. Mr. Luft is a member of the Odd Fellows and since 1904 has occupied a place on the school board, which he also served as clerk two years, and at the last election was unanimously chosen to continue the office for the regular term of three years.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “History of Yolo 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” page 346-347 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.