California Genealogy and History Archives
Biographies
of
Sacramento County
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BENJAMIN
MARTY The
name of this sturdy Swiss farmer and stock-raiser was known to the
people of Sacramento county principally through the successful
identification of his sons with agricultural affairs and dairy
interests. It was his good fortune to possess the splendid qualities
that have given pre-eminence to the republic of Switzerland, where he
was born in 1829 and where in 1866 he married Katharina Marty. In their
native land they labored industriously on a small dairy farm and by
frugal management earned a comfortable livelihood. They became the
parents of six sons and all are now living with the exception of George,
who died in the old country at the age of twelve years, and Joseph, who
was accidentally drowned in the Sacramento river at the Monument ranch,
March 18, 1912, at the age of thirty-nine years. All of the sons were
educated in Swiss schools, trained to a knowledge of every department of
agriculture and qualified to support themselves as farmers in any part
of the world. They became men of excellent capacity for work and
remarkable powers of physical endurance. Four of the five came to the
United States and settled in Sacramento county, where they achieved a
degree of success altogether commendable and certainly merited. The
eldest of the family, Antone, born January 20, 1869, was the first of
the family to seek a home in the new world. Arriving in Sacramento April
30, 1890, he worked for three years as a day laborer on a ranch operated
by his uncle, Joseph Marty. With the savings of that period he bought a
one-third interest in the dairy herd of his uncle. This purchase did not
include any interest in the land itself. In order to render possible the
enlargement of the dairy the partners rented additional tracts of land.
Eventually the young man became the owner of one-half of the dairy
business and during 1902 he bought the remaining one-half interest, thus
becoming the sole owner of the dairy. With the year 1909 the lease of
twenty years expired and he sought other headquarters. Thereupon he
removed to the Monument ranch, his present location. By his marriage to
Miss Susie Durrer of Red Bluff he has three children, Hedwig, Antone and
Adelhaide, all of whom are now students in the schools of Sacramento
county. The family are honored members of the Roman Catholic Church and
he holds active connections with the Young Men's Institute. In addition
lie is identified with the Woodmen, Foresters, Turn Verein, Improved
Order of Red Men and Helvetia Society, the last-named a Swiss
organization of local prominence. The
only daughter in the family, Katharina Marty, was born in Switzerland
January 20, 1870, and still lives near the old Swiss home- stead. Her
husband, Peter Meister, a large land owner, extensive agriculturist and
successful specialist in fruit, also is a man of prominence in public
affairs and is well known throughout all of their district. There are
ten children in the Meister family. The only other member of the Marty
family to remain in Switzerland is the youngest brother, Frank, a young
man of ability and a skilled worker in the cheese industry. Through his
recognized thoroughness as a cheese- maker he has been retained in
important positions and now is inter- ested in a large cheese factory in
Bavaria, Germany, where much of his time is spent. He still considers
Switzerland as his home, al- though business interests keep him
elsewhere much of the time. The
father's namesake, Ben, Jr., born in 1871 and a resident of Sacramento
county since 1891, worked for his uncle, Joseph, for some time after his
arrival. During 1902 he bought a small ranch down the river and became
interested in the poultry industry. By his marriage to Albertina Zuger
he has one child living, Albert, four- teen years of age. Like his
brothers he holds membership with the Improved Order of Red Men and the
Helvetia Society. Joseph, born in 1873, came to the new world in 1892
and had the supervision of the ranch until his death in 1912. He was
prominently connected with the Foresters, the Improved Order of Red Men
and the Helvetia Society. No
member of the family has exhibited greater energy, more un- daunted
courage and more sagacious judgment than has characterized the efforts
of Martin Marty, a native of Canton Schwyz, Switzerland, born February
2, 1876, and a resident of the Sacramento valley since the year 1892,
when he accompanied his brother, Joseph, to the ranch home of their
uncle, Joseph. Although at the time he was a mere lad, unfamiliar with
American institutions and Californian methods of agriculture, he was so
willing and capable that he secured steady work without difficulty. For
four and one-half years he worked at the old Sprague ranch on the
Freeport road. At the time of the discovery of gold in the Klondike he
went to Alaska, going over the Chilcoot pass with two others, carrying
thirteen hundred pounds of food. On Lake Bennett they whipsawed the
lumber and built two boats in which they made their way through
Wildhorse Rapids and down the Yukon to Dawson. There he prospected for
two years and then went to Cape Nome and other fields. During the four
years of his sojourn in the north he staked out one claim that later
proved to be very valuable and it was his intention to develop this, but
his entire outfit was stolen and he was left without adequate means for
recuperating his losses. On such small events do human destinies turn.
The theft of his outfit prevented him from making a fortune in the mines
and he returned in 1902 little richer than when he started, yet
possessing a wealth of information about Alaskan mines and that vast
unexplored region near the Arctic seas. After his return to Sacramento county Martin Marty with two of his brothers bought out their uncle and located eight miles up the Sacramento river on the Yolo side, where they bought five hundred acres of bottom land. Of this they now have over four hundred acres in alfalfa, which has been improved from brush and tules, and in the year 1912 they cut four thousand tons of hay from February to December. They have on this tract three hundred and fifty head of cattle, among them being two hundred and forty milk cows of the best grades. Eight dairy wagons are kept in constant use and two thousand gallons of milk are handled and sold daily, a milk boat being run from their ranch to Sacramento twice daily. The brothers also own a stock ranch of one thousand acres in Placer county. On December 3, 1904, Martin Marty married Miss Katharine Mente, a native of Austria, and of this union they have one daughter, Marguerite, born July 25, 1910. The family holds membership with the Roman Catholic Church, in which he is a liberal giver and active worker. Fraternally he is associated with the Foresters of America, the Improved Order of Red Men, Woodmen of the World and the Helvetia Society. |
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Source: Transcribed by Peggy Hooper 2011 |