Sacramento Valley Biographies

JOSEPH WOHLFROM  

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, April 2009.

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

          In the hearts of those who were associated with him through many
busy years the name and deeds of Joseph Wohlform are perpetuated, though his
earth life has ended and the cares and toils of the workaday world have been
laid aside forever. A pioneer of 1852 in California and of 1869 in Colusa
county, he was a son of Anton and a brother of John Wohlfrom, of Woodland,
in whose sketch appears the family record. A native of Alsace, Germany, he
was born January 31, 1829, and received the excellent educational advantages
which Germany furnishes to her children. Coming to the United States a young
man, he found employment in a St. Louis hotel, but his residence there was
very brief. In 1852 he crossed the plains to California, where he followed
various occupations in Yolo county, and then tried his luck in the mines of
Montana, returning to take up the stock business with his brother, John, in
Yolo county.

          Upon moving to Colusa county in 1869 Joseph Wohlform settled three
and one-half miles north of College City at what is now Prize, but then
known as Spring Valley postoffice, where he owned two hundred and
eighty-three acres in one body. The care and cultivation of this farm
engaged his attention until he passed away, October 30, 1900. Since then his
wife and son, Thomas B., have managed the land, and have not only kept up
the improvements made under his supervision, but also have acquired by
purchase in 1903 another tract of two hundred and sixty acres lying one-half
mile north of the homestead, thus giving them a total of five hundred and
forty-three acres. The tract more recently purchased is used as a pasture
for cattle, thus increasing their facilities for handling stock.

          Although showing a commendable public spirit upon all occasions,
Joseph Wo= hlfrom would not accept office even upon the most urgent
solicitation and he took no part whatever in politics aside from voting the
Republican ticket. Near College City, March 18, 1869, he was united in
marriage with Miss Margaret Stewart, who was born at Oskaloosa, Mahaska
county, Iowa, being a daughter of John and Deziah (Vail) Stewart, natives
respectively of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Her maternal grandfather, Thomas
Vail, was born in New Jersey and removed at an early day to Ohio, thence to
Illinois, where he passed his closing years. His daughter, Mrs. Stewart,
died in Iowa. While living in Iowa John Stewart followed the millwright's
trade, but in 1864, accompanied by his family, he traveled with horses and
wagon to Montana, where he took up mining at Helena. During 1867 he
proceeded by teams to Oregon, journeying down the Snake and Columbia rivers
to Portland and from there to California, where he became interested in farm
pursuits near College City. The farm which he owned is now known as the King
place. Later he engaged in raising stock in Shasta county and from there
moved to a farm in Napa county, thence retired to Arbuckle, where he died in
1897. Of his union with Miss Vail there were seven children, of whom Mrs.
Wohlfrom is the fourth and sole survivor. As a girl she lived in Iowa and in
McDonough county, Ill., also, in Montana and California, and thus gained a
versatile knowledge of various sections of the country, which has been
supplemented by later travels and habits of thoughtful reading. Current
events receive due attention on her part. In political views she favors
Republican principles.

          A stanch friend of the public school system, it has been her
ambition to give her children excellent educational advantages, in order
that they might be prepared for such responsibilities as the future holds
for them. All of the family are well educated in local schools and Dora is
now engaged in teaching. The eldest son, Frank J., is interested in farming
and mining, near Helena, Mont.; and the eldest daughter, Emma, is the wife
of William Bradford, of Arbuckle. The second son, Thomas B., a young man of
intelligence and energy, aids his mother in the management of their land,
and is an active worker in the Independent Order of Foresters, besides
having an interest in the Arbuckle-Rochdale Company. The three youngest
children, Clara, Dora, and Ella, reside with their mother at the homestead.
One of the most interesting sights on the home farm is a fig tree, which
measures over nine feet around the trunk at its base and presumably is the
largest at its base of any fig tree in the entire valley.

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906,
Page 414.