San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1601-1602
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 1/28/2010
GOTTFRIED HANDEL
A valuable ranch of fifty-eight acres on Harney Lane, five miles southeast of Lodi, is the property of Gottfried Handel, who is engaged in both agricultural and viticultural pursuits. A native of South Dakota, he was born at Menno on May 27, 1892, a son of Gottfried and Louisa Handel. When Gottfried was ten years of age the family removed to California and settled in the vicinity of Harmony Grove school, San Joaquin County, where the father acquired a quarter-section of land. He passed away on his home ranch and the mother later became the wife of Lot Lachenmaier, a native of Southern Russia. Mr. Lachenmaier came from Russia and settled in South Dakota, being a pioneer of that section of the country. He acquired considerable land and in time became among the largest and most successful grain growers and cattle raisers in the state. He was the first merchant in Lehr, S.D., and helped to build up the community, remaining there until 1910, when he came to Lodi. His first constructive work in San Joaquin County was the starting of the town of Victor, where he built a store building and conducted a store for the convenience of the rural residents. He was one of the organizers and is now the vice-president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Lodi, and is an esteemed citizen of the community.
Gottfried Handel received his education in the Harmony Grove district school and until he was twenty-two years old worked on the home place. In October of 1914 he was married to Miss Bertha Wiederrich, a daughter of Jacob and Katherine Wiederrich, farmers of South Dakota. There were nine children in her father's family and Mrs. Handel is one of the three that are living today. Her brother, John R. Wiederrich, is represented in this work and is a vineyardist of the Lodi district. Bertha Wiederrich was educated in the Harmony Grove school and was reared on a ranch in that vicinity. Her father passed away when she was a small girl and she came to California with her mother, who now resides in Lodi. Mr. Handel inherited forty acres southeast of Lodi on Harney Lane, eight acres of which was in vineyard and the balance a stubble field, which he planted to vineyard and alfalfa; later he added eighteen acres, making in all fifty-eight acres. Of the eighteen acres, ten acres have been set to vineyard, while the balance of eight acres is in alfalfa; he has installed one of the largest pumping plants in the country. Mr. and Mrs. Handel are the parents of four children: Dolores Katherine, Herbert Richard, Donald Jacob and Robert Gottfried. Mr. Handel is a Republican in politics and is a member of the German Reformed Church of Lodi.
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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