Merced-Santa Clara County CA Archives Biographies.....Salau, Henry Frederick Ferdinand 1835 - 1910
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Author: John Outcalt (1925)

HENRY FREDERICK FERDINAND SALAU

   Among the pioneers of Merced County none had a more eventful career than
Henry F. F. Salau, who made his home five miles southwest of Los Banos. He was a
prominent rancher and stockman in California, and few had touched at as many
ports of the world as had Mr. Salau while he was sailing the seas. He was born
June 3, 1835, at Kiel, Germany, the son of John and Catherine (Kremhoff) Salau,
also natives of that same place. The mother died in 1854 while the father lived
to reach the age of sixty. He was a weaver by trade and he and his wife were
members of the Lutheran Church and strict in the discipline of their children.

   The oldest son in the family, Henry Salau remained at home until he was
fourteen; then, feeling the touch of poverty and lack of opportunity, he became
a sailor aboard the brig "Betsy of London," which was the vessel used by John
Paul Jones fifty years before, sailing to London, then to Quebec, Canada, but
before reaching the latter port experienced his first shipwreck, in which eleven
of the crew were rescued by the Humboldt of Hamburg and taken to New York. Three
months later he shipped on the Humboldt for Hamburg, then on the same ship made
two trips to New York. The last time he came around the Horn to California,
reaching San Francisco in August, 1852. Thereafter he was engaged in the
coasting trade between San Francisco and Puget Sound. In 1861 he shipped on the
Challenger for Liverpool, a voyage of 103 days. His next ship was the Nicholas
Biddle for New York, after which he took a trip to the West Indies on the
Warwick. His next trip was around the Horn on the clipper ship, Magnet, 140
days. He continued as a sailor on various ships and had reached the rank of
second officer. During the years that had passed he had become well informed on
conditions in nearly every part of the world, and when he had spent about a year
in Germany, where he worked in a moulding factory, he decided he would come to
the United States and California. Like the majority of men who follow the sea,
he had not accummulated any money, so he had to begin at the bottom and work his
way to the top. His arrival in San Francisco was in April, 1867, on the Moses
Taylor. Going to Santa Clara he farmed in that vicinity until 1869, then went to
the West Side in Merced County and entered 160 acres near Volta. He did not
prove up on this land but soon settled near Los Banos and engaged in the sheep
business. In 1871 he located on 160 acres and improved it and made that his home
for many years, adding to his property until he had 700 acres which he devoted
to grain and stock.

   Mr. Salau entered into every movement that had for its end the betterment of
general conditions, was a strong Republican and served on the County Central
Committee and as a delegate to county and state conventions. Fraternally he held
membership in the Workmen. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and belonged to
that church in Los Banos. He married at Kiel, Germany, Miss Marie Dorathea
(Weber) Salau, born in Holstein, and they had five children: Augusta C, the wife
of M. Becker of Berkeley; Adolph of Fruit-vale; Mary; Louis, who died in 1918;
and Doretta C, of Los Banos. Mr. Salau died on April 12, 1910, aged
seventy-five, and Mrs. Salau passed away on November 23, 1919.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF
MERCED 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
JOHN OUTCALT

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925


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