San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 831
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 12/5/2009
MRS. LENA S. FAKE
A highly-esteemed resident of San Joaquin County who has an interesting lifestory to tell, is Mrs. Lena S. Fake, the widow of the late and highly-honored Captain George J. Fake, residing at Tracy. She was born near Ingeln, in the Province of Hanover, Germany, on August 18, 1853, the daughter of Henry and Hannah (Dohrs) Seegers, and accompanied them to America in 1868, along with an uncle, Christoph Dohrs, a mining man of prominence and wealth in San Francisco, who had been visiting his relatives in Germany during that year. Fourteen days were required to cross the Atlantic, after which they left New York, aboard the steamship California, bound for Aspinwall. Then they crossed the Isthmus on the railroad up from Panama and came on the steamship George Law, arriving at San Francisco on October 1, 1868.
Henry Seegers was a farmer and shepherd by occupation, and soon after his arrival in the Golden State, he made his way into the San Joaquin Valley, where he formed a partnership for agricultural pursuits with Harry Fisk, near what was known in those early days as San Joaquin City. He took up Section No. 28 of land, and the dwelling and farm-buildings were erected from lumber and materials hauled across the arid plains from Stockton, a distance of thirty-three miles. Fire destroyed the buildings, however, in 1898, and thus a well-known landmark of the sixties was removed. Mr. Seegers passed away on August 15, 1900, at the age of eighty-two, and his faithful widow followed him on May 4, 1906, having attained her eighty-first year. Both of these highly intelligent and progressive pioneers left behind an enviable record for their useful lives, and made a substantial contribution toward the California of today.
The second daughter and oldest living of a family of six children, Lena Seegers received a good common-school education; and in 1872 she was married to Captain G.J. Fake, a native of England, who was born at Bury St. Edmund's on November 25, 1824. He was educated at Thetford Academy, and on reaching his eighteenth year, went to sea. Six years later—such were the rapid strides of his advancement—he was made captain of a merchant marine service. In 1853, he sailed his first vessel through the Golden Gate, after a hazardous voyage around Cape Horn, and from that year he maintained a home at San Francisco. He not only became master of his own private vessel, but he engaged in shipbuilding, as well, and constructed such well-known vessels as the schooner "Superior," used in powder and ammunition freighting between Santa Cruz and South America. In this enterprise, he was associated with a brother, William Fake. Several famous vessels came under the captain's ownership, but none are now in service. In 1886, Captain Fake made his last deep-sea voyage on a tour of the Orient, and Mrs. Fake accompanied her husband, as she had on all of the voyages he made after they were married.
On retiring from active sea-life, Captain Fake removed inland to San Joaquin County and in 1889 acquired a productive ranch of 320 acres, near Vernnalis, where he built his home and where he and his good wife lived until 1914, when, on account of failing health, he disposed of his ranch. At Tracy, on September 11, 1914, he passed away, thus rounding out an exceptionally useful life as one of the bravest sea-captains who ever stood before the mast. A daughter, now the wife of W.H. Cuthell, resides near Duncans Mills, on the Russian River, in California. Captain Fake was a member of various Masonic lodges; a stand-pat Republican and a sincere believer in the goodness of God and who could have had better reason for entertaining such faith than one who had, for years, coursed the stormy main, sailing through peril after peril into sunshiny open. After her husband's death, Mrs. Fake lived for a short time at Oakland, but in 1919 she erected a comfortable residence at Tracy, deeding the property to the Lutheran Church, with the proviso that she may continue to reside there during her natural life. This is only one of the numerous things she has found pleasure in doing, being active in all church work, charitable pursuits, etc., quietly and modestly pursuing her way, content that virtue and Christian large-heartedness are their own reward.
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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