Yolo-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Wurth, Gertrude 
************************************************
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@gmail.com December 8, 2005, 4:46 pm

Author: Tom Gregory

MRS. GERTRUDE WURTH

    The large and finely improved farm which Mrs. Wurth still owns and occupies
is endeared to her by the associations of almost one-half century of toil and
sacrifice. Hither she came as a bride, young, patient and capable; here she
reared her large family, carefully guarding the health of each and wisely
training them to a knowledge of the duties awaiting them in life; here she
endured the privations of the frontier and the hardships incident to isolation
from railroads and cities; and here she watched the gradual development of the
country, the expansion of its interests, the growth of its villages and the
enhancing values of its farms. As she reviews the history of the agricultural
development of Yolo county she may well exclaim, "All of which I saw and part of
which I was." Her wise counsel was ever ready to co-operate with her husband's
energy and she gave to him sympathy, help and encouragement. With busy hands she
labored unceasingly for the welfare of her large family and at the same time,
with the burden of heavy household cares, she yet found the time to aid in
charitable measures and the means to assist the poor and needy.

    Born in Hesse-Cassel, Kur-Hessen, Germany, Mrs. Wurth was a daughter of
George A. and Anna M. (Klotzburg) Koch, whom she accompanied across the ocean in
a sailer and landed at New York after a voyage of nine weeks. From New York they
came via Panama to California and after landing at San Francisco in 1863 they
proceeded to Sutterville, Sacramento county, where the parents died. The
daughter was given a fair education in the convent at Sacramento and in that
city, October 24, 1867, became the wife of John Wurth, a German-American citizen
of sterling integrity and great energy. Born near Stuttgart, Wurtemberg,
Germany, October 25, 1836, he was reared on a farm and in young-manhood came to
the United States, spending five years at Aurora, N. Y., as a day laborer.
During 1859 he started with an expedition for Pike's Peak, but on the way met so
many men returning discouraged and with tales to tell of troubles of all kinds
that he decided to push on to California. Arriving here, he spent a few months
in the mines. During 1860 he came to Sacramento and secured employment by the
day. Coming to Yolo county in the fall of 1861 he located a claim of one hundred
and sixty acres five miles northeast of Winters. At first he kept "bachelor's
hall" in a little cabin on the farm, but in 1867 he married and brought his
young wife to the ranch. Together they worked with the most unwearied diligence.
Little by little they established a financial foothold. With a wise forethought
as to advancing values they purchased adjoining land from time to time. The
raising of grain was the principal occupation. In those days crops were large
and prices almost uniformly good, so that they were able to pay off their
indebtedness and educate their children. When Mr. Wurth died May 23, 1905, he
left an estate of six hundred acres and since then his widow has added to the
ranch until now she owns seven hundred and eighty-seven acres of valuable land.
While she continues to reside at the old homestead, the land is leased to
tenants and she is enjoying a deserved respite from the anxieties and labors of
a busy existence.

   In politics Mr. Wurth voted with the Republican party, in religion was
confirmed in the Lutheran faith and fraternally held membership with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Educational matters interested him greatly. In
the building up of the district school he gave of his time and means and for
fourteen years he served as its trustee, displaying in the position an untiring
zeal in behalf of the school and a constant desire to promote its standard of
education. His wife shared his devotion to Republican principles and is in
hearty sympathy with that party platform. As early as 1876 she became a member
of the Rebekah Lodge and now is associated with the Mendelssohn Lodge of
Rebekahs in Winters, belonging also to the Lodge of Pythian Sisters in the same
town. Eleven children were born of her marriage and it was her happy fortune to
live to see them all settled in homes of their own and holding positions of
respect in their various communities. They are named as follows: George A.,
connected with the Consolidated Water Company of Woodland; Celia, wife of George
E. Sidwell, of Winters; Dora E., who married August Brinck, of Winters; Rosa M.,
Mrs. Adam Beiser, of San Francisco; John Albert, who is engaged in farming near
Buckeye; Charles F., a miller in Woodland; Minnie G., Mrs. William F. Russell,
of Merritt; Lydia A., Mrs. John Hueke, of Woodland; Kate B., who married Lee
Shackelford and lives at Cedarville, Modoc county; Ida M., Mrs. Homer Cook, of
Plainfield; and Sadie, wife of Adolph Oeste, a resident of Davis, Yolo county.


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/wurth126bs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/

File size: 5.8 Kb