San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 836
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 2/5/2010
WILLIAM HEIL
Conducting his realty operations on a large scale, William Heil has not only made a splendid success in this field since locating in Lodi, but was well known for his extensive development work in several sections of North Dakota before coming to San Joaquin County. Born in Yankton, Dakota Territory, May 6, 1878, he started his business life by clerking in a store at Menno, leaving there in 1899 to locate in Morton County, N.D., where he homesteaded 160 acres of land, which he developed into a stock ranch, a property he still owns. Going to Glen Ullin, N.D., Mr. Heil began his career in the realty business, being a pioneer developer of that section and doing much to develop it, selling land to Eastern speculators, disposing of Northern Pacific Railroad lands and locating homesteaders. In 1910 he helped to build up the town of Elgin, erecting the first store building and residence there, and he founded the town of Heil, laying out the town site and starting the sale of the lots the following spring in what is now a thriving town.
In the fall of 1913 Mr. Heil removed to Bismarck, N.D., and a year later he came to California and located at Lodi, having made his first visit to California and Lodi in 1907. Here he became actively identified with the real estate field under the firm name of The Heil Land Company, operating on an extensive scale in the handling of ranch properties, and has bought a number of vineyards, improved them and resold them at a fine profit. In 1919 Mr. Heil sold the Fink Bros., ranch of fifty-five acres for $1250 an acre, this being the first sale of vineyard land at this high price in the county, and in 1920 part of this same land sold for $2,000 an acre. The Trimberger place of ten acres which he sold for $7,500 brought $27,500 three years later, and the vineyard of John K. Bender, consisting of twenty acres, which he sold in 1919 for $16,000, has changed hands three times in two years, bringing $46,000 the last time, showing the increase in values in this thriving district. The company now holds the Kirschenmann ranch of seventy acres of vineyard and orchard on the lower Sacramento Road, the latter property being brought up to a high state of cultivation under the supervision of Mr. Heil. The company also owns 500 acres of bare land of which Mr. Heil personally owns 480 acres in Merced County.
Mr. Heil's first marriage united him with Miss Magdalena Fink, who passed away in Lodi, leaving three children, Emma, Hilda and Harry. On February 13, 1908, he was married to Miss Augusta Lipelt, a native of Poland, and this union has been blessed with the birth of two children, Loraine and Gerald William. Mr. Heil was one of the organizers of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Lodi and was at one time its largest stockholder, but he recently disposed of his interests in it. Progressive in all his ideas, Mr. Heil has been successful since first coming here, and with his enthusiasm and belief in the future greatness of this favored district, he has contributed much to its prosperity.
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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