Contra Costa-San Francisco County CA Archives Biographies.....Hemme, August 1833 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 29, 2005, 6:56 pm

Author: W. A. Slocum & Co., Publishers (1882)

ADDENDUM.

   The following biographical sketch was received too late for insertion in its
proper place:

AUGUST HEMME.— The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work,
was born in Neustadt-am-Rubenbergan, Hanover, Prussia, January 10, 1833, and is
the son of William Frederick and Mary Ann (Stunkel) Hemme, the former of whom
died in the year 1868 and the latter in 1842. The maternal grandfather of our
subject held for several years a high position in the mining interests of the
government of Brunswick, he being the head of a bureau in that department. At
the time of Prussia joining the German alliance against the Corsican Emperor,
Napoleon, he received a Colonel's commission in the army under Blucher, and with
him served until the war was brought to a close on the field of Waterloo.
Surrounded by these scenes of strife it was that the mother of August Hemme
first saw the light; the exigencies of war separated the young infant and her
mother two weeks afterwards, and it was not until the Napoleonic star had set
forever that they were reunited. The city of Brunswick now became the permanent
home of the family, and here the maiden dwelt, blossomed into womanhood, and won
the heart of the father of our subject. In due course of time she became the
mother of three boys and a girl, all of whom received the advantages of sound
education under an especial maternal supervision. At the early age of eleven
years August Hemme took high honors at the high school of his native town, and
here he drank first of the military ardor which infused the times wherein his
mother was born. Having graduated he entered a course of preparation to fit him
for entering the Military University at Hanover, a step which was postponed,
however, owing to a misunderstanding having occurred between that principality
and Brunswick. At this juncture an older brother, who had been for some time in
the United States, commenced infusing into his letters a spirit of delight with
the New World. This caused Mr. Hemme's thoughts to be turned in that direction;
he therefore commenced to make preparations for a voyage across the Atlantic to
America. Leaving his home associations behind, he set sail and landed in New
York in 1846, where he was employed for the first three years in his brother's
store. Now the discovery of gold gave a new field for his energies.

  In May, 1849, he started for the golden shores of the Pacific. On arrival he
entered into the occupation of mining on Feather river, and made a good
beginning. He forsook the cradle and rocker, and hied himself into the prolific
valleys of the State, for he felt that in their beautiful bosoms lay a lasting
source of wealth. In his wanderings he came to the beautiful San Ramon valley,
in Contra Costa county, and there, in 1852, he acquired, by purchase, three
thousand acres of most fertile land, on which he dwelt for the next eleven
years. Here he married Miss Minerva Elizabeth Ish, the daughter of a neighboring
farmer, on January 20, 1856. In 1863 he associated himself with Charles Reihn,
under the firm name of Reihn, Hemme & Co., in the business of assaying and the
purchase of bullion and gold-dust—the firm being still one of the most prominent
in San Francisco.

  To speak of Mr. Hemme's charities is a work of supererogation—they are almost
universal. He has given thousands towards church benefits, where others quite as
able have only tendered their hundreds; his gift to the Tabernacle in San
Francisco was in the vicinity of a hundred thousand dollars; other places of
worship have been made wealthy by his generosity; while schools, no matter of
what denomination, have felt the influence of his unstinting hand. With all
this, his prosperous fields in the San Ramon valley plainly show that he has not
neglected his agricultural interests; with the maturing of plans to found
much-needed schools and churches in outlying districts, he finds time to attend
to his duties as a farmer. Chief among his enterprises of this nature was the
organizing, with Judge Thornton S. Franklin and others, under the pastoral care
of Rev. Mr. Fackler, of the Central Presbyterian church, on Mission street, San
Francisco. He next furnished the funds to purchase the lot on which the
Tabernacle, in that city, stands, and finally aided its completion, as before
mentioned. These are monuments that will never die.

  His beautiful residence near Alamo is a gem of architectural beauty,
surrounded on every hand with a wealth of verdure. A splendid fruit-orchard,
luxuriant grape-vines, umbrageous oaks, emerald fields and pasture-clad hills,
all tend to fill in a picture of surpassing loveliness. Here Mr. Hemme is wont
to take his rest when released from the whirl of business. Here does he follow
the injunction of a favorite poet, which is to him an ever-present guide and
comforter:

    "This, above all: To thine own self be true;
     And it must follow, as the night the day,
     Thou canst not then be false to any man."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.



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