Gadsden-Leon County FlArchives Biographies.....Getzlaff, Rudolph Frederick ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 2, 2008, 11:52 pm Author: B. F. Johnson Rudolph Frederick Getzlaff Rudolph Getzlaff, as he is commonly known, President of the Florida and Georgia Tobacco Company, of Quincy, Florida, is an example of the thoroughgoing and well-equipped German, who landing in a new country with no other capital than his qualifications and a sturdy determination to succeed works out a large measure of success in his chosen line. He was born near Stettin on the southern shore of the Baltic, in the province of Pomerania, Prussia. His parents were John Frederick and Atilla (Von Sanitz) Getzlaff. His father was a farmer, and an uncle, Julius Von Sanitz, was the owner of large estates in Poland, very prominent in agricultural circles, and at one time President of the Agricultural Society of Germany. After attendance at the High School at Stargard, he entered an agricultural college, from which he was graduated in 1877, with a good theoretical knowledge of farming on top of the practical knowledge already learned upon his father's farm. In 1878 he came to the United States and settled in Minnesota, where he began farming. A little later he went to Nebraska and was there from 1880 to 1882. All the time he was on the lookout for an opening that was in line with his knowledge, where something of special importance might be done in the farming line. He became attracted to Florida in connection with its fruit growing possibilities and dairy farming, and in 1884 he moved from the North to Tallahassee, and after three years in that section, in 1887, he moved to Quincy and engaged in tobacco growing, having become satisfied that the lands of that section offered peculiar advantages for the growing of high class tobaccos. In 1890 be accepted a position as farm manager for a New York Leaf Tobacco Company. This farm was located just over the Florida line, in Decatur county, Ga. In 1892 he discovered that Sumatra tobacco could be raised successfully in Florida, and in the lower part of Decatur county, Ga., he demonstrated the fact by growing three acres of Sumatra wrapper leaf tobacco which compared favorably with the imported article. This was the first Sumatra tobacco of commercial value which had ever been produced and put upon the market of the United States and from this time dates the splendid success of the tobacco growing industry of Florida. For this discovery Mr. Getzlaff was promoted to general manager of plantations, and in this capacity he gradually increased the company's estate from one to eighteen plantations. The magnitude of these plantations may be measured by the fact that 2500 field hands were employed during the harvest season. He held his position with this company until the year 1904 when he organized the Florida and Georgia Tobacco Company, with headquarters at Quincy, their specialties being the growing and packing of American Sumatra and Havana tobacco, and has been president of this most successful company since its organization. In 1881 he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Von Schwerien, nee Elizabeth Imholtz. He lost his wife by death and has since remained a widower. In politics Mr. Getzlaff acts with the Democratic party in all local matters and the Republican party in national matters. He is a communicant of the Lutheran Church and a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Order of Elks. In addition to his agricultural tastes Mr. Getzlaff has a strong mechanical turn and has invented and patented the first American pneumatic cotton picker. He has served the city of Quincy in the capacity of Councilman, and though not seeking public place is ready to be of use when his fellow-citizens need him. Mr. Getzlaff has spent much time in introducing tobacco raising in different sections of Florida. This tobacco history is rather a curious one. Few people know that tobacco seed was introduced into the great tropical island of Sumatra from the United States long years ago. The plant found there a soil and climate congenial to it for the production of a certain high class tobacco at that time unknown in the United States, and the trade in this Sumatra tobacco grew to very large proportions. It was generally believed that this quality of tobacco could not be grown in the United States until Mr. Getzlaff demonstrated that it could be successfully grown. Mr. Getzlaff is fond of reading, especially the classics, books on modern achievement, and agricultural literature. He is an extremely well read and widely informed man and has a very fine and complete library. He believes that the best interests of Florida are to be promoted by the building of good roads and the securing and maintenance of a heavy duty on imported tobacco, and by an extensive and systematic campaign of the advertising of the State's resources. He has done a most valuable work for the State, and in achieving success for himself has shown to the people of Florida the way in which the wealth of the State can be enormously increased by the extension of the cultivation of this high grade tobacco. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/gadsden/bios/getzlaff27gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb