Yolo-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Wilger, Frederick 1826 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 23, 2006, 8:57 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

FREDERICK WILGER

    During the period of his identification with the west it has been the happy
fortune of Mr. Wilger to witness the development of the vast resources of
California, the remarkable increase of population and the upbuilding of
prosperous towns as well as thriving agricultural regions. In a locality far
distant from the land of his birth and the scenes familiar to his boyhood years
he has risen to a substantial degree of success and has made a distinctive place
for himself in the community containing a large number of forceful, energetic
citizens. A native of Hesse-Cassel, he inherits traits that are distinctly
Teutonic and may lay claim to a thrift, perseverance and frugality descending to
him from German forefathers. He was born October 10, 1826, and at the age of
seven years came to the United States with his mother. Successively a resident
of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Missouri, he had gained much by habits of close
observation in the various localities of his sojourns and thus self-culture gave
him a partial recompense for lack of educational advantages.

    Early in the year 1853 Frederick Wilger started across the plains with a
body of emigrants bringing forty head of mules and horses. All along the way
there was constant danger from marauding bands of unfriendly Indians. On one
occasion, while the emigrants were eating their breakfast at the camp, the
savages captured seven head of horses and escaped without detection. When the
loss was discovered an immediate pursuit was inaugurated and a hurried drive of
twelve miles brought the men within a short distance of the robbers. Suddenly a
mule brayed and the call was answered quickly from the other camp. By making a
dash through the tall wild wheat and grass a capture was effected and the horses
were again in the hands of their rightful owners, not, however, without
considerable peril, one man receiving a severe gunshot wound from a rifle
carried by an Indian.

    At the expiration of five and one-half months and with no loss of any stock
excepting fourteen head of cattle, the party arrived at Sacramento on Friday,
August 19, 1853. The men were there dismissed and paid $20 each. As Mr. Wilger
turned to walk down the street he met John Woods, an old comrade, with whom he
enjoyed a pleasant reunion and conversation. Later he engaged to work in a
threshing crew at $2.50 per day. For seven years he continued in the employ of
one farmer and meantime carefully saved his earnings, investing them in three
hundred and twenty acres bought at a purchase price of $900. With a partner as
proprietor of the new ranch (he himself continuing to work by the month) a crop
of four thousand sacks was threshed from one hundred and sixty acres of grain.
The partner's interest was bought for $1800 and thus he came into entire
possession of a valuable property, which for years he personally superintended
and cultivated. At this writing he owns seven hundred and thirty acres near
Davis which for many years he has rented to his son-in-law, W. E. Wiese. In
addition to the ranch he owns the Odd Fellows' building, the blacksmith's shop,
eight houses, twelve vacant lots and the elegant residence that he now occupies,
all in Davis.

    The first marriage of Frederick Wilger was solemnized in 1861 and united him
with Augusta Gloeckler, a native of Germany, who died leaving three children,
Ella M., Alice M., and Augusta P. Afterward he was married in Sacramento October
27, 1873, to Miss Eliza Boy, a native of Hamburg, Germany, and immediately
following their union they settled on the ranch about three miles from Davis. It
was the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Wilger to visit the east at the time of the
World's Fair. He has kept posted concerning national development, but he is
first and most emphatically a Californian, loyal to the state of his adoption
and believing it to be unsurpassed by any commonwealth. With advancing years and
the accumulation of a competency he has retired from business and agricultural
cares and is spending his time quietly and happily in his cozy home, taking no
part in politics nor in fraternities with the exception of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. The raising of fruit for the family use is a source of interest
to him and he takes great pride in securing good crops of choice varieties. In
addition he notes with interest the welfare of the horses, cattle, sheep and
hogs on the ranch, as well as the cultivation of the land.


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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