Yolo-El Dorado County CA Archives Biographies.....Hamel, George F. 1859 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 10, 2005, 10:30 am Author: Tom Gregory GEORGE F. HAMEL Farming operations conducted upon an extensive scale form the basis of the partnership existing between George F. and Henry J. Hamel, native-born citizens of the Golden State of the west and members of a pioneer family honorably associated with agricultural development and material upbuilding. The property which came to them as an inheritance and which has been increased through their own capable efforts yields to their keen supervision an annual income that furnishes abundant proof of the fertility of the soil as well as their own sagacious oversight. At this writing they have charge of eleven hundred acres near Davis and two hundred and eighty-five acres in the vicinity of Winters, the whole forming a vast tract whose care and cultivation demands their diligent attention. George F. Hamel was born at Placerville, Eldorado county, Cal., in 1859, and received his education in the academy of his native town, the German school at Sacramento. St. Augustine's College at Benicia and Heald's Business College in San Francisco. To the knowledge gained from text-books he has added a large fund of information gained from contact with the world, from habits of close observation and from the careful perusal of current literature. Throughout life he has made ranching his chief occupation and under the oversight of his father, Henry Hamel, he learned his first lessons in agriculture, the same being the foundation of his present intimate familiarity with the occupation. In the operation of the farm the most modern machinery for facilitating the farm work is used and the grain crop is gathered with a combined harvester. Fair crops are raised, returning a gratifying dividend upon the investment. The barley crop for 1911 averaged twenty-five sacks per acre, although some of the land yielded as high as thirty-five. The wheat crop in 1912 averaged twenty-five sacks to the acre. Stock-raising is a leading feature of the Davis ranch, where twenty-five calves of the short-horn Durham variety are raised every year, as well as eight or ten colts of Clydesdale and Norman breed. As much of the land is well adapted to pasture, the stock industry proves profitable as well as interesting. The meadows produce large crops of hay and the entire tract under the capable supervision of the proprietors gives evidence of soil fertility, careful cultivation and an intelligent rotation of crops. Upon the organization of the Davis branch of the Bank of Yolo George F. Hamel became one of the original stockholders and still retains his connection with the concern, while his association with the village is further enlarged through the ownership of real estate. In January, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Katherine M. Dietrich, a native of Sacramento, Cal. They are the parents of two children, Carolyn M. and Lestenna H., who are receiving excellent educational advantages in the schools of the neighborhood. Mr. Hamel was made a Mason in Athens Lodge No. 228, F. & A. M., of Davis, of which he was master for two years. He was raised to the Royal Arch degree in Woodland Chapter No. 46, R. A. M., and to the Knight Templar degree in Woodland Commandery No. 21. 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] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/bios/hamel106gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb