San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 883
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/3/2009
BERT BETHFORD BANTA
The descendant of a California pioneer, Bert Bethford Banta can well take pride in the achievements of his progenitors, for it is to their unbounded faith in the future of this part of the country and their many years of arduous labor, that much of the present prosperity of this generation is due. Mr. Banta's grandfather, Henry Banta, who was the father of the late James Banta, came to California in early days and settled in San Joaquin County where he acquired several hundred acres of land, Banta being named for him.
Bert Bethford Banta was born on March 25, 1889, in Merced, but grew up in San Joaquin County, attending school in the Willow district school. His mother, Mrs. Millie (Wacksmuth) Banta is a native of Pennsylvania, who accompanied her parents to California in 1868, her father being Edward Wacksmuth, a pioneer of the county, who was highly esteemed and honored by his friends and business associates. Edward Wacksmuth was born in Germany on January 31, 1834, and in 1857 came to the United States, locating at Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army and served until 1864 when he received his honorable discharge at Washington, D.C. He saw service in the following battles: Battle of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Days' Fight on the retreat with General McClellan, Battle of Malvern Hill, Battle of the Wilderness under General Hooker, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, and Gettysburg under General Meade. He was wounded in the right wrist and breast in the Battle of the Wilderness and was removed to the Base Hospital in Virginia and was cared for until his recovery. Soon after his discharge he removed to Franklin, Pa., where he was employed as an engineer for a short time; then went into the grocery business at the same place. In 1868, ambitious for a field of greater opportunities, he sold his business and embarked for California via Aspinwall, across the Isthmus of Panama and to San Francisco. Remaining in California but one year, he returned East for his family and on their arrival located in Sacramento, but after six months removed to Ellis, a town on the Central Pacific Railroad, where he engaged in the hotel business; he afterward leased the hotel for two years and engaged in the sheep business. However, in 1877 he resumed the hotel business and the following year removed his hotel building into Tracy, where he conducted a first-class house for many years. The Wacksmuth block on Central Avenue, stands as a monument to this man, who pioneered and won success. Besides Mrs. Banta, there are three children: Mrs. Elda Slack of Tracy, Mrs. Mary Grunauer and Eddie Wacksmuth, of San Francisco.
During 1909, Bert. B. Banta was graduated from the California School of Mechanical Arts in San Francisco, and then entered the University of California, taking up the agricultural course, and in 1914 received his B.S. degree. Returning to Tracy he has ever since been engaged in grain farming and stock raising, and is justly proud of the blooded animals on his farms. His extensive land holdings are coming under the irrigation systems and thereby will become not only more productive, but more valuable. Mr. Banta erected a fine residence on a 320-acre tract of land adjoining Tracy where he makes his home; 125 acres are devoted to a fine field of alfalfa, and many acres of corn are also seen on his vast holdings, which are in the West Side Irrigation District.
Mr. Banta's marriage, which occurred in Berkeley, Cal., in December, 1918, united him with Miss Amelia Armstrong, a daughter of Mrs. D.F. Armstrong, a resident of Berkeley. Mrs. Banta is an active worker in the affairs of the Woman's Improvement Club of Tracy and Eastern Star Circles. Mr. Banta is a well known figure in the Masonic Blue Lodge, Royal Arch, and Eastern Star, and is a strong member of the Farm Bureau of San Joaquin County. Both Mr. and Mrs. Banta being great lovers of the outdoors, have spent many happy days in the high Sierras, hunting and fishing, and have visited every National Park in the West, and some of them many times. Mr. Banta is a man of affairs and is ever ready to lend his aid to projects that are for the good of his home town and community.
History of
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
With A
Biographical Review
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
HISTORY BY
George H. Tinkham
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1923
San Joaquin County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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