California Biographies, Santa Cruz County.
J. M. GRIMMER. 

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

Source:
History of Santa Cruz County, California 
Pacific Press Publishing Company
San Francisco, Cal. 1892
By E. S. Harrison 

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

J. M. GRIMMER. 

As an example of what may be done by persistent energy in the face of serious obstacles, the life of J. M. Grimmer 
presents lessons of encouragement to young men starting out for themselves, without the aid of means, influential 
friends or those other accidents of environment that ofttimes determine our destiny. When he came to America he 
found himself in a land of strangers, with whose language he was unfamiliar, and whose opportunities he was unable 
to grasp because of lack of means. Born in Germany September 23, 1832, he had been favored by a fair education in 
the German schools, and also had been apprenticed to a trade while still quite young. Thoroughness is a Teutonic 
characteristic and he had been thoroughly taught all the details of the blacksmith's trade, so that he was well qualified 
to earn his livelihood by following the occupation. After having landed at New York City in 1853 he worked on a New 
Jersey farm for five months and then proceeded to Michigan, where he found similar employment. During 1860 he came 
to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and on the sixth day of November he first saw Watsonville, the home of
 his future efforts. That day is memorable in the annals of our country as the date of the first election of Abraham Lincoln 
to the presidency. 

It was not long after his arrival that Mr. Grimmer was earning a fair livelihood as a blacksmith and he was profitably 
engaged in that occupation until 1864, when the heaviest misfortune of his life came to him in the loss of his right arm 
through the accidental discharge of a gun. The catastrophe precluded further efforts at the blacksmith's trade. It there- 
upon became necessary to seek a means of livelihood possible to one so afflicted as he, and the growing of fruit was 
selected as offering a favorable opening. A pioneer in horticulture, he became an authority concerning the occupation 
and his thorough understanding of the soil has been of advantage to himself as well as to others. For many years he 
made a specialty of the berry business, but eventually he concentrated his attention upon the raising of apples and at 
this writing he owns an orchard of one hundred and twenty-five acres, the greater part of which is in bearing, the apples 
being of those varieties ascertained to be best adapted to this soil and climate. In the twilight of his busy life, the 
owner no longer devotes his entire time to the orchard, but is living practically retired, in his comfortable cottage at 
No. 222 East Lake Street, Watsonville, where he is surrounded by the comforts rendered possible by years of patient 
industry and unremitting toil. 

Very shortly before his migration to the western coast Mr. Grimmer was married in Michigan to Miss Catherine Clirist- 
ner, who was of German birth and ancestry. Five children were born to their union, but death removed three of their 
number from the family circle. The two survivors are Carrie and Mabel. The former is the wife of Frank Thomp- 
son and resides in San Francisco. The younger daughter married Frank Rodgers, who is connected with the drug store 
in Watsonville. Throughout his long identification with the commercial and horticultural development of Santa Cruz 
County, there has never been a time when Mr. Grimmer has wavered in his steadfast faith in the country's prosperous 
future and by his own energetic efforts he has hastened the consummation of the prosperity to be attained by the intelli- 
gent cultivation of the soil of this region. For four years he served as a member of the board of town trustees. Tlie only 
order to which he belongs is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and for more than twenty-five years he has acted 
as trustee of the local lodge. During the period of his trusteeship, in 1893, lie was closely identified with the building of 
the order's substantial office structure on East Third Street, where on a lot valued at $2,250 the lodge erected a building 
that cost $19,000. Somewhat later the lodge acquired, at a cost of $1,200, the lot adjoining their first purchase, so that 
their holdings now represent a large outlay of capital. The wisdom of the undertaking has been justified by the returns 
received from the investment, while in addition the lodge has had the pleasure of owning their own society hall, equipped 
in modern style, and offering abundant facilities for the entertainments of members and friends.