Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


LORENZ VAN DER LECK, 
 
capitalist, 82 South Main street, Los Angeles, was born in Schleswig-Holstein, 
February 25, 1811. He attended school and served an apprenticeship to the trade 
of carpenter and joiner in his native country. In 1832 he went to Hamburg and 
remained five years. From there he went to Strasburg, Switzerland, then to 
Paris, and from there shipped to South America. After visiting different parts 
of South America he came to California, reaching San Pedro, November 4, 1849. 
During his long voyage he secured material at the different ports, and made a 
house, all ready to put together. After his arrival in Los Angeles he put it up 
on the corner of Main and First streets, using it as a dwelling house, and 
remaining here two years. However, the times becoming dull, he went to San 
Francisco, where he was employed at his trade for three years, after which he 
returned to Los Angeles. He was successfully engaged in building for over thirty 
years, and when he retired from active business was the oldest contractor and 
builder in Southern California. He erected the block where he now lives on Main 
street, in 1854, it being the first brick building in Los Angeles. The lot he 
purchased in 1850, and his property has become very valuable. In October, 1854, 
he married Miss Caroline Geiger, a native of Wirtemberg, Germany. She died in 
1861, leaving two children. Caroline, the older, was married May 11, 1878, to 
Edmund Lewz, a native of Prussia, Germany. They have five children: Emma, 
Walter, Edmund, Carrie and Paul. Henry, the son, is residing in this city, and 
was married October 1, 1888, to Miss Cecelia Mott, a native of Los Angeles, and 
daughter of T. D. Mott, Esq., an old and honored resident of this city.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 827
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler