California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley 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 CHRIST H. KROGH. The farm owned and occupied by Mr. Krogh is situated three and one-half miles from Newman and lies in Merced county, .with the exception of one-eighth of an acre across the line in Stanislaus county. The nucleus of this property was acquired by him about 1885, when he purchased eighty acres and embarked in the raising of grain. Investigations made in the following years convinced him that alfalfa could be made a profitable crop and by 1896 he had the entire tract under that product, which nourishes so luxuriantly that five crops can be cut in the course of a year. An orchard with fruit sufficient for family use and a residence erected in 1896 add to the value of the homestead, while other improvements made as opportunity affords prove the owner to be a man of progressive spirit. Near the town of Soudeborg in Schleswig-Holstein, on the sea-girt island of Alsen, one of the possessions of Denmark, Mr. Krogh was born June 13, 1852, and is one of nine children, seven still living, of whom three crossed the ocean to America. A younger brother, Hans H., resides four miles southwest of Newman, where he has a valuable alfalfa farm. The father, Peter, was a son of Jorgen Krogh, a " baker by occupation, and he himself not only worked as a baker, but also followed the butcher's trade and also operated his own farm. He is still living on the old homestead, where in 1901 he enjoyed a visit from his son, Christ H., who returned for a brief sojourn among old friends and the associations of youth. " The mother. Catherine Maria Moller, was a daughter of Jens Moller, by occupation a farmer. She died in the fall of 1871. The farm which is still the family homestead was the home of Air. Krogh's youth and there he worked diligently to assist in the support of the family. At fifteen years of age he left school and in 1870 crossed to the mainland of Denmark, where he remained six months. During 1 871 he came to America and during the summer season worked as a farm-hand' near Chatsworth, Livingston county, Ill. From there he came to California in 1873 and at Hill's Ferry secured employment on the Noxon ranch, remaining in the same position for a long period. In 1877, with Noxon’s teams, he ran a grading machine and helped to construct the canal on both the east and west sides in the San Joaquin valley. Later, after severing the partnership with David Noxon, he assisted in constructing the Stevenson canal on the east side, for which purpose he had teams there for more than a year. About 1878 he became a partner of his former employer and as such superintended a large ranch largely under cultivation to grain. Until about 1880 he also managed a ranch of six hundred and forty acres which he had purchased. A few years later, about 1885, he bought eighty acres of his present property, which is one of the finest alfalfa farms in this region. Dairy interests have engaged his attention and he now has a herd of thirty- five milk cows, also other cattle, aggregating one hundred head in all. For the cultivation of the land he keeps sixteen head of horses, these being used not only on the home place, but also on a rented farm of five hundred acres, which he has in wheat. When the project of starting a creamery was first formulated he became enthusiastically active in the measure, and in 1896 was one of the organizers of the New Era creamery, the first of the creamery plants established in the county and the foundation of the dairy industry that has proved perhaps the most important factor in the progress of the farming community. In 1896 he moved to his present home and began to improve it. In Stockton Mr. Krogh was united in marriage with Mrs. Jensina (Hurlock) Hermandson, a native of Schleswig. Mrs. Krogh is the mother of five children, three of whom are now living, namely : Mrs. Catherine Hill, who lives upon a dairy farm in Merced county ; Andrew and Wilbur. By her previous marriage Mrs. Krogh had two children. The daughter, Mrs. Annie Schmidt, who died in Newman, and the son, Henry Krogh, who is manager of all of the Newman warehouses. On different occasions Mr. Krogh has been chosen to serve on grand and petit juries and he has also been a delegate o