Yolo-El Dorado-Solano County CA Archives Biographies.....Hamel, Henry 1832 - 1911
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Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

HENRY HAMEL

    Conceded to be one of the largest land owners in the Davis section, and
ranking among its most able and highly respected citizens as well, was the late
Henry Hamel. He was born November 5, 1832, in Hesse-Cassel, Kur-Hessen, Germany,
where he received his education, later taking up farming with his father. He
continued this until he left the home land for the United States, taking passage
on the Harriet in May, 1851. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Schneider)
Hamel, were also native Teutons, and among the foremost farmers of their
vicinity. Upon arriving in New York Henry Hamel proceeded at once to La Salle,
Ill., where his brother John had settled some years before, but in 1852 he came
to California as a goldseeker. Joining an ox-team train, he crossed the plains
and after five months reached Hangtown, later re-christened Placerville. For a
short period he tried his luck in the mines, but meeting with indifferent
success left this occupation and established a freighting route embracing
several mining camps, Sacramento being the supply station. In 1862 he opened a
meat market in Placerville and built up a large business in that village. During
his residence there he took an active part in the local fire company, of which
he was a charter member. After a residence of five years in Placerville he
disposed of his interests there and located in Solano county, where he purchased
land which he improved and devoted to farming and stock-raising. From time to
time he added to the original purchase until he finally had fourteen hundred
acres. His home was situated one-quarter mile south of Davis, in Solano county,
near the line of division, and his lands were included in both Yolo and Solano
counties. Though he devoted a portion of his estate to agriculture, most of his
attention was directed toward stock raising, cattle dealers throughout the west
considering his Durhams the best of their type. Not without patient labor and
keen foresight did he accomplish the miracle which appears to the eye beholding
the beauty and fertility of the well-conducted farm, representative of the
highest citizenship of our country, and among his wide circle of acquaintances
not one stands forth to speak aught but good of the man who made the best of
every opportunity presented to him.

    In Sacramento, June 29, 1858, Mr. Hamel was united in marriage with Maria
Wirtz, who was born in Louisville, Ky., and was brought up and received her
education in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1856 she came to California via Panama with
her parents, Jacob and Charlotta (Aug) Wirtz, natives of Canton Zurich,
Switzerland, and Rheinpfalz, Germany, respectively. Mr. Wirtz was a merchant in
Cincinnati, and after locating in Placerville he became a pioneer merchant in
that place. Of the fourteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamel nine are living:
George F., a farmer three miles east of Davis; Henry J., owning and conducting a
fine ranch six miles from Winters; Carrie M.; Fred; Alma M.; Charlotta E.;
William C., farming a part of the estate and residing five miles southeast of
Davis; Edward, and Elizabeth. Fred and Edward are farming on the home place. All
of the daughters are still under the parental roof, and in the domestic life of
this remarkable family is found a beautiful understanding which puts to shame
the conditions which exist in many of our homes, and serves as a lesson to those
who, searching for happiness, may, if they will, find it at their own firesides.

    Mr. Hamel was made a Mason in Placerville Lodge, F. & A. M., and later
became a charter member of Athens Lodge No. 228. F. & A. M., of which he was
master for four years; St. James Chapter, R. A. M., Placerville, and
subsequently he became identified with Woodland Commandery No. 21, K. T. At the
time of his death he was one of the oldest Masons in California and the last of
the charter members of Athens Lodge. His sons, George, Henry and William, are
also members of Athens Lodge No. 228, F. & A. M., while his daughters are
charter members of Ionia Chapter No. 199, O. E. S., at Davis. Mr. Hamel died in
San Francisco October 5, 1911, and was buried from his home with Masonic honors.
Toward all movements of worth he was ever a generous contributor, and was
recognized as a man of exceptional executive ability, his efforts in the
interests of his fellow citizens having won their deepest appreciation. For
twenty years he served as school trustee, and in educational matters always
displayed marked concern, lending his influence to all movements of worth in
that connection.


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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