San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 576
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 11/11/2009
AUGUST DANGERS
One of the earliest pioneers of Roberts Island who gave of his energy and resourcefulness to the reclaiming and developing of the Island from tule and swamp land until it has become one of the most fertile sections in the state, is the late August Dangers, a man who was highly respected and much loved. He was born in Mandelsbach, Hanover, Germany, September 11, 1833, where he grew to manhood and received a good education in the excellent schools of that country.
When eighteen years of age, in 1851, he made his way to Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas, and in 1854 he was joined by his parents and brothers and sisters and followed farming and cattle ranching. Wishing to obtain good farming land he concluded to investigate conditions in Central America, so in 1859 he made the trip to Panama locating in the Province of Chiriqui. He engaged in raising pineapples but found he could not dispose of them to advantage on account of the Civil War in the U.S. After about three years he determined to come on to California, arriving in Stockton in 1862. His brothers joined him in 1870 and his parents came in 1873. Mr. Dangers engaged in farming and soon afterwards located on Roberts Island where he purchased 320 acres of land and helped to build the levees from the beginning of the reclamation of that island, engaging in raising grain and horses. However, the recurrence of floods caused him heavy damages and the repeated expense of rebuilding the levee was too much and he met with heavy losses. He spent his last days in Stockton, passing away in 1905 at the age of seventy-nine years.
Mr. Dangers was a well-informed man; always a great reader he was an advanced thinker, particularly on lines pertaining to agriculture. He saw the need for irrigation and of intensive farming for the fertile San Joaquin County lands and how they could be made to yield a big increase by irrigation and that the additional expense necessary to put water on the lands would be returned many fold. He was an advocate of the raising of sugar beets which has since been demonstrated a success in the county. He was a correspondent of the Stockton Independent and his articles were always interesting, showing much thought and reflection.
The marriage of Mr. Dangers occurred in Stockton, uniting him with Miss Ida Saloman, a daughter of Max and Mina Saloman, pioneers of San Joaquin County. Mr. Saloman has passed on but his widow is still living, making her home with her granddaughter, Miss Dangers. Mrs. August Dangers passed away soon after her marriage leaving two daughters, Erna, who died at twenty-six years, and Juanita, the youngest. Being bereaved of her mother in her first year Juanita was reared in the home of her grandmother, Mrs. Mina Saloman, in Stockton. After completing the public schools she entered the employ of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company and she is still in their employ. She is a member of the Saturday Afternoon Club.
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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