Yolo-Sierra County CA Archives Biographies.....Van Zee, Dirk 1828 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 14, 2006, 5:29 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

DIRK VAN ZEE

    To the casual observer who is not a profound student of character the life
history of Dirk Van Zee reads more like & chapter from a romance than a record
of actual experiences; but to those who understand the relation of cause to
effect and who comprehend the unceasing toil and wise intelligence behind every
act, the ultimate prosperity and wide influence of the man do not occasion
surprise. The home of his childhood was the large stock farm of his father near
Rotterdam, Holland. His ancestors belonged to that sturdy class of farmers who
laid the foundation of a national prosperity that has made their country
noteworthy among greater nations of the world. For years his parents, Garrett
and Mary (Dikop) Van Zee, cultivated a farm at Herwenia near Rotterdam, and
there he was born September 12, 1828, his first recollections being of the
picturesque environment close to the North sea. During childhood he was sent to
a school of the neighborhood and made such diligent use of his time that he
gained a thorough education in his native language. As he studied concerning the
countries of the world and as he listened to the conversation of his elders in
regard to prospects in America, he decided that he would cast in his destiny
with the United States, nor did he ever have cause to regret the decision that
brought him, a young emigrant, to the opportunities of the new world.

    Two years (1851-53) spent at Pella, Iowa, afforded Mr. Van Zee the desired
opportunity to acquire a knowledge of the English language as well as the
customs of the people of America. Meanwhile he heard much concerning California
and in the spring of 1853 he joined an expedition that crossed the plains with
ox-teams and wagons, arriving in due time at their destination. Ambitious to try
his luck as a miner, he spent four years in the mines at or near Gibsonville,
but no special fortune rewarded his endeavors and he turned to agriculture as
offering a more reliable source of income. His early experiences as a farmer
were scarcely more encouraging than those as a miner. Coming to Yolo county in
1857, the following year he took up one hundred and sixty acres on Willow
slough. By the most arduous effort he secured a start and had acquired a fine
bunch of stock, when in the disastrous drought of 1864 he lost every head of
stock except a span of horses. The experience was most discouraging, but he was
a man of great determination and began anew with the energy characteristic of
his earlier effort. For a time he made a specialty of grain, but eventually he
acquired another large herd of stock. Renting the original farm, during 1869 he
removed to a place of one hundred and sixty acres which he had recently
purchased and which was situated two and one-half miles east of Woodland.

    To the new home in 1870 Mr. Van Zee brought his bride, who was Miss
Ernestine Furch, a resident of Woodland, but a native of Ludvigsruhe, Prussia,
Germany. Her parents, Henry and Ernestine (Blauert) Furch, were likewise of
Prussian birth and for years Mr. Furch engaged extensively in the contracting
business in that country, but during 1862 he brought the family to America, only
to be taken from them by death almost immediately after his arrival in New York
City. The mother and children made their way to Minnesota and settled at
Henderson, Sibley county, where they soon found friends among the other Germans
of the vicinity. Mrs. Furch died in that county during the spring of 1905, when
eighty^ two years of age. In religion she had been a lifelong adherent of the
Methodist denomination and an earnest worker in the church. Of her seven
children all but one are still living, but only two of the family, Mrs. Van Zee
and Theresa, now the widow of Fred Lothammar, of Sacramento, ever came to
California and established homes in this state. Mrs. Van Zee, who was third in
order of birth among the children, received her education in the schools of
Germany and Minnesota and during 1868 came via Panama to San Francisco in
company with her sister, Mrs. Lothammar, proceeding to Woodland, in or near
which place she has since resided.

    For twelve years after his marriage Mr. Van Zee engaged in farming on his
place east of Woodland, but at the expiration of that time he rented the farm
and bought one hundred and sixty acres three miles west of Woodland. Removing to
the new tract, he took up its improvement and cultivation. Being prospered in
large degree, he added to the farm and thus acquired four hundred and eighty
acres in one body, the whole forming a splendid estate, devoted to viticulture,
grain and alfalfa, and watered by a model system of irrigation. When eventually
he retired from agricultural activities in 1892, he came into Woodland and
established his home on a tract of nine acres in the east part of town, where
his death occurred December 12, 1905. Since his demise the widow has made her
home at No. 552 College street, Woodland, where surrounded by the affectionate
ministrations of her children and esteemed by a large circle of friends, she is
passing the afternoon of existence in tranquil contentment. Her eldest son,
William, is engaged in the automobile business in Woodland. Mary, the older
daughter, is the wife of Russ Strong and lives in the vicinity of this city.
Fred died in 1892, at the age of seventeen years and six months. Sarah resides
with her mother, while the youngest sons, Garrett and John, are engaging in
agricultural pursuits near Woodland. The family are earnest supporters of the
Woodland Christian Church, with which Mr. Van Zee was officially connected for
years and to which he contributed with the generosity that had its foundation in
his deep devotion to the cause of religion. As a citizen of his adopted country
he was loyal to an unusual degree. Particularly was he interested in movements
for the advancement of California, the commonwealth of his affectionate regard,
the source of his gratifying personal prosperity, the center of his enterprises
throughout a long period of successful endeavor. After he had gained a knowledge
of political conditions and national .problems in the United States he espoused
the cause of the Republican party and always afterward he continued to give his
allegiance to its men and measures in both general and local elections.


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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