California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


RUDOLPH HENRY BAMBAUER. A successful farmer, an active Democrat, and an 
all-around enterprising man is found in Rudolph Henry Bambauer, a self-made man in 
the broadest sense of the word, and since 1896 the owner of seventy-nine and three-quarter 
acres of land three miles south of Newman. Mr. Bambauer is of German ancestry, and his 
strongest traits are those derived from the fatherland. Born at Columbia, Tuolumne 
county, Cal., December 16, 1859, he is one of the multitudinous offspring of the men who 
came to the coast in 1849, and who tarried in the wake of more or less discouraging failure 
in the mines. His parents, Charles and Adalaide Bambauer, were born in Germany, living 
in Baden until coming to the United States shortly after their marriage. The elder Bam- 
bauer graduated from mining to freighting, and in 1873 located on a farm near Modesto, Stan- 
islaus county, in 1875 removing to one hundred and sixty acres of government land in the 
western part of Merced county. His land proving unprofitable, he bought forty acres in 
the Cottonwood district near Newman, improved the same, and remained there for the 
balance of his life. Of the five sons and three daughters reared in this home Rudolph is the 
oldest ; George lives on a ranch near Newman ; Charles lives at Volta, Merced county, and is 
making a home for his mother, where he and his brother, Edward, conduct a blacksmith shop 
which is one of the very best equipped shops outside of Stockton ; Frank is deceased ; Louise 
is stewardess on a steamer ; Mrs. Carrie Russel is a resident of Newman ; and Louie lives 
at Los Banos, Cal. 

After leaving the public schools Rudolph Henry learned the butcher's trade in San Fran- 
cisco, working for Miller & Lux until 1878. He then turned his attention to blacksmithing 
in Merced for nine years, and after being injured by a horse, and incapacitated for hard 
physical labor, came to Fresno in 1887, and engaged as a barkeeper until 1892. Purchas- 
ing his present farm in 1896, he is devoting it to alfalfa and a dairy of thirty cows, at the 
same time leasing nine hundred and sixty acres of grain land with his brother, George, and 
operating the same in partnership. He has been successful as a dairyman and grain raiser, 
and has accumulated a competence, due entirely to his saving and industrious habits. He 
has stock in the New Era Creamery Company, and has otherwise invested in lands and enter- 
prises of an upbuilding nature. As a Democrat he is regarded as promising office-holding 
material, although as yet his efforts have been confined to aiding his friends, and represent- 
ing his district in state and county conventions. He is a holder of the degree" of honor 
in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is otherwise identified with the social life of 
the county. Mr. Bambauer should regard his past with satisfaction, and his future as full 
of hope. Should chance turn his steps from farming he could undertake blacksmithing or 
butchering with every prospect of success, for both of these trades he mastered with the same 
degree of thoroughness and efficiency which has characterized his every effort in life. He 
is a highly respected member of the community, and is deserving of credit for the ease with 
which he has conquered the obstacles which have beset his path. 

Mr. Bambauer was married in Merced county to Miss Ella Stahlman, who is the mother 
of two children now living: Fulton Rudolph and Marvell Ella.