Anaheim, Orange Co., CA - German Settlement ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contri- butor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This information is from: "The German settlement at Anaheim" by Dorothea Jean Paule. 1952. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Southern California, 1952. Scanning and OCR by Joy Fisher. CHAPTER II PRELUDE TO SETTLEMENT Colonizers of the Anaheim settlement originally came to the United States from Germany, coming from all parts of Germany except its eastern border.[1] The majority of them were living in San Francisco when the plan of settlement was formulated. Why and when these particular Germans came to the United States and to the West is mostly a matter of speculation. The German element in the United States in the nineteenth century was the largest of any foreign element, 5,009,280 entering from Germany during the century, and unchecked by the vastness of their new homeland, pushed on westward with the frontier until they reached the Pacific Coast. There is a possibility that many of those composing the Anaheim colony had emigrated to the United States following the revolutionary troubles in 1848. They may have come earlier during the decade 1831 to 1840, a decade with a great increase of emigration from Germany due to over-population, over- production, and the decline of the small hand industries which were finding competition with the new factory system.[3] Conditions in the United States during the decade of the thirties were conducive to immigration, for as Frederick Jackson Turner stated, it was an era of land speculation, town- building, and westward movement. "Cheap lands, light taxes, the need of laborers, and the opportunity to gain a competence in a short time by toil-these were conditions that attracted the Germans." [3] There were persons of German ancestry among gold seekers coming to California in the rush of 1849 and in succeeding years. There had been Germans in California previous to the gold rush, also. The first organized party of emigrants which arrived at John A. Sutter's colony in New Helvetia in the Sacramento 4 Valley in 1841 was to a large extent composed of Germans. [4] Merchants, trappers, and artisans of various types had arrived in both Los Angeles and San Francisco in the thirties and forties from Germany. Coming from Austria to the gold mines of California in 1850 by way of Cape Horn and Peru and to Los Angeles in 1853 was George Hansen who was to play a prominent part in the founding of the Anaheim community. Mr. Hansen was a civil engineer and surveyor, who during his residence in southern California probably made more land surveys in Los Angeles and adjoining counties than any other person.[5] He attained the position of deputy county surveyor of Los Angeles County. Also in Los Angeles at this time was John Frohling, a German musician who had come to California in 1849 by way of New York and St. Louis and who in 1852 had planted a vineyard of 3,000 vines in Los Angeles along with Charles Kohler, also a German musician who had come to New York in 1849 and to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1852. Kohler and Frohling opened a wine shop in a basement on Merchant Street in San Francisco in 1854.[6] In 1855, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Frohling, and Otto Weyse, editor of the Democrat, a San Francisco newspaper, met to discuss plans for buying land, planting it in vines, and establishing a German colony.[7] This is the first record of the thinking which was to result in the Anaheim colony. Viticulture in the mid-nineteenth century in southern California was, next to the livestock industry, the most valuable industry. The demand for wine greatly exceeded the supply, and it appeared to these Germans that this would be a profitable way to make a living. The success of Arpad Haraszthy, a pioneer vintner of Hungarian origin, in grape growing in Sonoma County was an example to them of the possibilities of that type of livelihood.[8] Grapes were bringing high prices, and there were profits from the wine business. The early fifties was a time when nearly every land owner caught the "wine fever, " entertaining the idea that the planting of a few thousand vines would make him rich, and "vineyards sprang up as if by magic all over California. "[9] In 1855, the number of vines in California was listed by one source as 324,234; the next year there were nearly 1,500,000; in 1857, there were 2,000,000; in 1858, 4,000,000; and in 1859, 6,500,000.[10] The possibilities of a cooperative grape-growing enterprise were tempting to this group of San Francisco Germans. They saw in a venture of this type a chance to invest their money profitably and an opportunity to leave the city with its current iniquities and live an outdoor life on their own homesteads. Furthermore, grape cultivation was an endeavor with a ready appeal to Germans, who as a national group, had been successful viticulturists in their native land and had attempted grape cultivation elsewhere in the United States with a certain amount of success. Those who expressed interest in the cooperative project were of various occupations, some not too successful in their respective callings. In the main they were artisans. Of those that actually made up the settlement there were several carpenters, a gunsmith, an engraver, three watchmakers, four blacksmiths, a brewer,[11] a teacher, a shoemaker, a miller, several merchants, a bookbinder, a poet, four or five musicians, a hatter, some teamsters, a hotel- keeper-and "not a farmer among them all, pray notice. "[12] Coming from such a wine-producing country as Germany, it was taken for granted, however, that they would understand more about the wine business than other groups in America. These Germans knew enough about grape growing to be convinced that California had great possibilities in that form of agriculture. Establishment of the Vineyard Society Plans for a vineyard society as discussed materialized into a cooperative venture known as the "Los Angeles Vineyard Society, " the first recorded meeting of which was held in San Francisco on February 24, 1857.[13] At this meeting presided over by Otmar Caler, George Hansen, the Los Angeles surveyor, addressed the group concerning the profit and advisability of grape culture. By-laws were presented by Mr. Hansen as drawn up by a committee, these by-laws providing for five trustees, seven directors, a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, with provision for election of officers and meeting dates. The by- laws, with provision to change them by two-thirds majority at a general meeting, were adopted. According to the by-laws, there was to be a superintendent or overseer of the Society who would be a stockholder in the company, giving bond for the fulfillment of his contract.[14] His first responsibility was to select a suitable site for the vineyard, obtaining a map of property to be considered and submitting it to the board of directors of the Society along with legal papers and title to land for which he recommended purchase. After the land was purchased, the next duty of the superintendent was to fence it, construct buildings for housing equipment and laborers, whom he was to oversee, and build water canals. Then would come preparation of the land for planting of grape vines and fruit trees. The superintendent was to plant eight acres out of every ten to grape vines and one acre to fruit trees, leaving one acre to fruit trees, leaving one acre for house and farm buildings. The executive committee, according to these by-laws, would furnish the superintendent with funds to meet the bills he would submit, for he was not allowed to contract any debts. The by- laws provided for this further obligation for their overseer: He is instructed to further the welfare of the Society in any way possible. He is to furnish the Board of Directors an exact report of all the conditions favorable or unfavorable to the Society and to report on climatic conditions. [15] Mr. Hansen was unanimously elected superintendent at the meeting on March 2, 1857, for a three-year period with a salary of $200 a month, $150 to be paid at the end of each month and $50, a month to be retained until his contract had expired. 1 fi Bond of $5,000 was posted for the fulfillment of his duties.[16] At the previous meeting on February 28, attended by twenty-two men and one woman, twenty-seven shares of stock in the Society were subscribed at twenty- five dollars each, which was a ten per cent payment on a share at that time. Otmar Caler was elected president of the Society, Charles Kohler, Vice- president, John Fischer, secretary, and Cyrus Beythien, treasurer. A board of directors of seven 17 members was also elected.[17] It was reported at the meeting on April 6, that all stock allotted to residents of San Francisco, forty-two shares, had been subscribed.[18] It was resolved at the next meeting that four shares of the remaining eight should be reserved for Americans living in Los Angeles. Mr. Hansen was to be instructed to select men who would 19 be of the greatest benefit to the Society.[19] Selection of a Site One of the first assignments of the superintendent as incorporated in the by-laws was to select land for the enterprise. He had early success, for at the April 30 meeting of the directors of the Vineyard Society it was resolved and adopted that Mr. Hansen be instructed to purchase from Keller's Ranch one thousand acres at the rate of $2. 50 per acre with the privilege of buying a further thousand acres at the same figure within one year.[20] A second provision of the resolution was that in the event Mr. Hansen should have found another tract of land more suitable to the Society than this piece, then the terms as would apply to the Keller's Ranch purchase should be transferred to the new site.[21] It was wise that this provision was incorporated in the resolution, for the purchase was not consummated. A second site considered was on the Rancho Santa Gertrudis on the San Gabriel River, near the present site of Downey.[22] This purchase was not completed either. The minutes of the meetings in June and July expressed discontent over failure of Mr. Hansen to purchase a site for the colony. The vice-president, Mr. Kohler, went by steamer to Los, Angeles in June to confer with Mr. Hansen and lend his support to the selection of a suitable piece of land.[23] At the meeting on June 15, when further disappointment over delay of land purchase was noted, two members of the Society turned back their stock.[24] A detailed report from Manager Hansen regarding the advantages and disadvantages of several proposed sites for the colony and the distance from them to Los Angeles was presented to the Society at the directors' meeting on July 27, 1857, and "after due consideration, the manager was to be instructed to buy the Santa Ana land."[25] This land was part of the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana which had been granted to Juan Pacifico Ontiveras on May 13, 1837, by Mexican Governor Juan B. Alvarado.[26] At the meeting on August 15, Vice- president Kohler, having returned from southern 27 California, reported favorably on this selection.[27] The land, said to be level, was situated twenty-seven miles southeast from Los Angeles on the crossroads of wagon trails between San Pedro, San Bernardino, and Salt Lake City, and on the stage road between Los Angeles and San Diego. The directors passed resolutions to abandon negotiations for land on the ranches on the San Gabriel and the manager was to be instructed to buy, at a cost not to exceed two dollars per acre, enough land on the Santa Ana River so each of the fifty shareholders would have twenty acres of tillable land and enough more for public streets and at least one public building. Provision was also to be made for the privilege of bringing water from the river through the adjoining lands without interference in perpetuity. It was further voted that all stockholders were to be notified to pay in the remaining ninety per cent of their shares on or before September 21, 1857.[28] Official incorporation of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society was noted in the minutes of September 15, 1857, and a resolution was passed declaring legal all previous business transacted.[29] In the Certificate of Association the statement was made that the subscribers "associated themselves together as a corporation for the purpose of manufacturing wine from grapes grown in the County of Los Angeles in the said State of California. "[30] Capital stock of the company was given as $37,500, divided into fifty equal shares of $750 each. The principal place of business was to be in San Francisco and mechanical operations of the company were to be conducted in Los Angeles County,[31] at Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana. According to the Certificate of Association, duration of the Association was to be until May 1, 1860. Provision was made for management of affairs of the Society by 32 a board of eleven trustees.[32] Purchase of the land at Bancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana is recorded in a deed dated September 12, 1857, between Juan Pacifico Ontiveras and Martina Osuna, his wife, grantors, and John Frohling and George Hansen, grantees.[33] The deed provided that for the sum of $2,330 the parties of the first part "do grant, bargain, sell, alien, remise, release, convey and confirm unto the said parties of the second part, and to their heirs and assigns forever" the land known as the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, bounded and described as follows: Commencing at a point on said rancho where there is a stake, and which stake is 9 chains and 50 links south, [34] 70 1/2 degrees west of the western comer of a small garden belonging to said Ontiveras, and which is situate about 3 1/4 miles westerly of the house now occupied by said Ontiveras, and running thence . . . from said point north 15 1/2 degrees west 42 chains, thence south 74 1/2 degrees west 116 chains and 50 links, thence south 15 1/2 degrees east 100 chains, thence north 74 1/2 degrees east 116 chains and 50 links, thence north 15 1/2 degrees west 58 chains to the place of beginning, and containing in all 1165 acres of land and also the right of way in and over a strip of land 12 varas [35] wide, running through their said rancho, . . . for the purpose of making a ditch of capacity to carry water sufficient to irrigate the said piece of parcel of land . . . and also the privilege of using so much of the water from the Santa Ana River as appertains to their said rancho, for the purpose of irrigating the same . . . together with the privilege of making such other ditches through their said rancho as may be necessary for irrigating and cultivating said tract of land . . . . [36] Previous to signing the deed with Frohling and Hansen, Juan Pacifico Ontiveras had signed a deed with Bernardo Yorba granting him for the sum of $200 a right of way in and over a certain strip of the Yorba lands commencing at a point one hundred varas below a dam in the Santa Ana River sufficiently wide for the construction of a water ditch of capacity to hold and convey enough water for irrigating 1,200 acres of land with adequate space on either side of the ditch for the passage of a man on horseback for the purpose of inspecting and keeping the ditch in order.[37] Under this agreement Don Bernardo Yorba was not to be liable for any damage done by reason of cattle, horses, or other stock passing over his land. This privilege of a right of way to the Santa Ana River, a distance of five or six miles, and to be very important in the life of the colony at Anaheim, was conveyed to Frohling and Hansen from Don Juan Ontiveras and his wife in a separate deed for payment of ten dollars.[38] John Frohling and George Hansen in an indenture dated October 5, 1857, conveyed to the trustees of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society for the sum of $2,330 the land they had purchased for the same amount from Don Juan Ontiveras. [39] Mr. Frohling and Mr. Hansen also signed an indenture with the trustees conveying for ten dollars the right of way from the colony site to the Santa Ana River for purposes of building an irrigation ditch.[40] The colony was now legally established, although in name only, for none of the shareholders had as yet taken residence on the site and would not for approximately two years. The Los Angeles Star on September 19, 1857, [41] reported its first announcement of the enterprise, mention that the company had at last succeeded in obtaining land suitable to its purpose. The article called this project the most important every contemplated in southern California, and "as it is to be carried out by energetic, practical men, there can, of course be no doubt of its full success, especially as the stock required is already paid up." Actually, several increases in the capital were made after this date and by no means had enough stock been subscribed at the time of this article to meet the requirements. Capital stock of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society when incorporated in October, 1857, had been $37,000. On July 19, 1858, the capital stock was raised to $60,000, [42] and to $80,000 in August, 1859.[43] in September of that year, it was increased to $92,000. [44] There were some who invested in the stock for speculation only, and consequently, there was a heavy turnover in shares within a few years after the Society's founding. [45] There had been an agreement in the corporation that stockholders who wished to dispose of their stock must list it with the secretary with the price asked, and if no members of the Society wanted it, then it would be the privilege of the owner to sell to a non- stockholder.[46] FOOTNOTES [1] Hallock F. Raup, The German Colonization of Anaheim, California (University of California Publications in Geography, Vol. VI, No. 3. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1932), p. 131. Hereinafter cited as Raup, German Colonization of Anaheim. This work is an excellent source of material on the settlement of Anaheim from the geographical point of view. [2] Albert B. Faust, The German Element in the United States (Boston: Houghton- Mifflin Co., 1909), I, 575. During the nineteenth century 3,871,253 entered the United States from Ireland, 3,024,222 from Great Britain, and 1,439, 060 from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. [3] Frederick Jackson Turner, "The German Immigration to the United States, " Chicago Record-Herald, September 4, 1901, cited by Faust, The German Element in the United States, I, 584. [4] Erwin Gustav Gudde, German Pioneers in Early California (Hoboken, New Jersey: The Concord Society, 1927), p. 12. [5] An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1889), p. 498. [6] Wine institute, "History of Wine Making in Southern California, " MS, p. 48. This is a mimeographed booklet found in the Huntington Library. [7] Lucile E. Dickson, "The Founding and Early History of Anaheim, California, " Annual Publications, Historical Society of Southern California, 11:26, 1919. [John Albert Wilson], History of Los Angeles County, California (Oakland, California: Thompson and West, Pacific Press, 1880), p. 183, hereinafter cited as Thompson and West, History of Los Angeles County. (Although "Thompson and West" refers to the publishers, rather than authors, it is by these names that the book is best known.) in a biographical sketch of Julius Guenther Weyse, this work credits him as one of the founders of Anaheim, mentioning Otto Weyse as one of his sons. [8] Arpad Haraszthy was the son of Colonel Agoston Haraszthy de Mokesa, a Hungarian exile who is regarded by many as the father of the modern California wine industry. [9] Charles Kohler, "Wine Production in California," MS, 1878, in the Bancroft Library. [10] Wine institute, "History of Wine Making in Southern California, " MS, p. 50. [11] The brewer was Theodore Reiser who had been employed in a brewery in San Francisco from 1854-57, and then at a brewery in Tuolumne County before coming to Anaheim in 1860. He made the first wine and distilled the first brandy in Anaheim. (An Illustrated History of Southern California [Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co.,] 1890, pp. 855-56.) [12] Charles Nordhoff, California; For Health, Pleasure, and Residence (New York; Harper and Brothers, 1882), p. 175. [13] Minutes of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society, MS, as translated into English from the German by Marie Horstman Dwyer in 1930. Both the original and the translation are at the office of the Anaheim Union Water Company in Anaheim. Hereinafter cited as L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes. 14 [14] Article VIII of the By-Laws, Los Angeles Vineyard Society. [15] Ibid. [16] L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes, March 2, 1857. [17] Ibid., February 28, 1857. [18] Ibid., April 6, 1857. [19] Ibid., April 15, 1857. [20] This was land belonging to Don Pio Pico located on the San Gabriel River between the present sites of Whittier and Pico. [21] LA Vineyard Society Minutes, April 30, 1857. [22] Ibid., May 14, 1857. [23] Ibid., June 1, 1857. [24] Ibid., June 15, 1857. [25] L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes, July 27, 1857. [26] Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana covered 35,970 acres from the northwest bank of the Santa Ana River to Ranches La Habra and Los Coyotes on the north and west. The rancho was one of those later purchased by Abel Steams, a large landholder and early Californian. [27] Mr. Kohler was influenced in the purchase of the Santa Ana location land by August Langenberger, a well-educated German merchant and cattle raiser who in 1850, after marrying Petra Ontiveras, daughter of Don Juan Pacifico Ontiveras, owner of the property being considered, had moved to the rancho of his father- in-law. Mr. Hansen, surveying the Ontiveras rancho in 1855, had also made the acquaintance of Mr. Langenberger. Mr. Langenberger became one of Anaheim's leading residents. [28] L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes, August 15, 1857. [29] Ibid., September 15, 1857. [30] The Certificate of Association of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society was filed and recorded September 21, 1857, in Book No. 1 of Miscellaneous Records of the County Court, State of California, County of San Francisco, pages 45 and 46, and cited in Works Progress Administration Research Project No. 3105, "Anaheim Water Appeal, " 1936, pp. 70-71. [31] The area remained a part of Los Angeles County until 1889 when Orange County was officially formed. [32] The eleven trustees were: Otmar Caler, Charles Kohler, John Fischer, J.F. Cyrus Beythien, Hugo Schenk, Heinrich Cramer, Jacob Hartman, Charles C. Kuchel, Rudolph Luedke, John Lutgens and John Bach. [33] The deed is recorded in Book 3 of Deeds of Los Angeles County, pages 725, 726, 727, under date of September 14, 1857. A copy of the deed was reproduced in a pamphlet "Deeds to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society," printed in Anaheim at the Southern Californian office, 1874. [34] A chain, according to Webster's New international Dictionary, Unabridged, Second edition, refers to Gunter's chain, called also a surveyor's chain, which is four rods or 66 feet long, each link being 7.92 inches. Ten square chains equal one acre. [35] A vara, according to Webster, is 32.99 inches. [36] It was not until 1872 that the Civil Code of California provided that running water flowing in a river or stream can be subject to appropriation, and not until 1911 that the declaration was made of public ownership of all waters within the state. (National Resources Planning Board, State Water Law in the Development of the West [Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943], p. 100). [37] Deed Dated September 1, 1857, from Bernardo Yorba and his wife to Juan Pacffico Ontiveras, as recorded on September 14, 1857, in Book No. 3, Records of Deeds of Los Angeles County, pages 724 and 725, and reproduced in the pamphlet, "Deeds to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society. " [38] Indenture dated September 12, 1857, between Juan Pacifico Ontiveras and his wife and John Frohling and George Hansen, as recorded on September 14, 1857, in Book No. 3, Records of Deeds of Los Angeles County, pages 727 and 728, and reproduced in the pamphlet, "Deeds to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society." [39] Indenture recorded October 5, 1857, in Book No. 3, Records of Deeds of Los Angeles County, pages 733, 734, and 735, and reproduced in the pamphlet, "Deeds to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society. " [40] Indenture recorded October 5, 1857, in Book No. 3, Records of Deeds of Los Angeles County, pages 735 and 736, and reproduced in the pamphlet, "Deeds to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society." [41] Cited in James M. Guinn, History of California and an Extended History of Its Southern Coast Counties (Los Angeles: Historic Record Co., 1907), I, 478. [42] L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes, July 19, 1858. [43] Ibid., August 8, 1859. [44] Ibid., September 12, 1859. [45] Raup, German Colonization of Anaheim, p. 131. According to Southern Vineyard, April 8, 1858, shares were then in demand at $1,000 a share. [46] L.A. Vineyard Society Minutes, December 12, 1857.