Yolo-San Francisco-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Ewert, Fred C. 1865 - 
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Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

FRED C. EWERT

    For more than a quarter of a century the associations of Mr. Ewert have been
with the progressive business interests of Woodland, where he has risen to an
influential position solely through his unaided exertions. Upon coming to
California he was greatly handicapped by a lack of knowledge of the English
language, a lack of money with which to meet the necessary expenses of existence
in a strange country, and a lack of friends to help him in the first heavy
struggles toward independence. Notwithstanding the obstacles and privations of
those years he won his way to a post of honor in commercial circles. The
greatest aid in those years, as now, was his accurate knowledge of the trade of
a watchmaker. Following the excellent German custom, he had been apprenticed to
a trade at the age of fourteen years. By a seeming chance the trade selected had
been that of jeweler and watchmaker, for which he was well qualified by natural
gifts, and in which he soon acquired an unusual proficiency. The knowledge of
the trade became the foundation of later success and rendered possible the
accumulation of a competency.

    The first sixteen years in the life of Mr. Ewert were passed in Germany,
where the family home was located in Pomerania. He was born there March 23,
1865, received a fair education in its schools, and served his apprenticeship in
Loitz, a thriving village not a great distance from the rockbound coast of the
Baltic sea. Accompanying two brothers he crossed the ocean to America in 1881,
and on the 1st of November arrived in San Francisco, where he soon secured
employment. His unfamilarity with the English language prevented him from
securing work at his trade, and he engaged in other lines of labor until he was
able to fill a position as a watchmaker and jeweler. From San Francisco he had
removed to Sacramento, and in 1885 he came to Woodland, where he has since made
his home. In 1887 he started in the jewelry business here, and by the excellence
of his workmanship he won a position of respect and confidence among the people.
A general jewelry business was conducted in his store, on the corner of First
and Main streets, until August. 1912, when, he established himself in his own
building, No. 532 Main street, where the appointments and fixtures are as modern
and up-to-date as any in the state. By his business integrity and the exercise
of high principles he has gained a place among the most honored citizens of his
home town, while he further enjoys a reputation for skill and accuracy in all
details connected with the occupation selected for his life work.

    Since coming to the United States and making a study of our national
problems Mr. Ewert has familiarized himself with every phase of citizenship and
has proved loyal to his adopted country, while naturally he cherishes an
especial interest in the progress of his own town and chosen place of residence.
After coming to this city he was made a Mason in Woodland Lodge No. 156, F. & A.
M., and since becoming one of its members he has been generous in support of its
philanthropies and consistent in his exemplification of its high principles. In
addition he has been associated actively with the Foresters. At the time of his
arrival in Woodland he was only twenty years of age, and it was not until some
time afterward that he established a home of his own, his marriage uniting him
with Miss Lena Germeshausen, daughter of Joseph Germeshausen and a member of a
prominent family of the community. They are the parents of two children, a
daughter. Lela, and a son who bears his father's name.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
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
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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