John *1858

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=9 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fa30f1egerdp.png"> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=145 BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03ea2c00erkjzj.png"> <div> <A HREF="mailto:George@Hilficker.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:George@Hilficker.com"><U><B><IMG SRC="04c77a50.jpg" border=0 width="119" height="165" ALT="Hilfiker Family Crest" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:George@Hilficker.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:George@Hilficker.com"><U>George Hilficker</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:John@Hilficker.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:John@Hilficker.com"><U>John E Hilficker</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:saknopf@earthlink.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:saknopf@earthlink.net"><U>Sandra Knopf</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:hilfiger@frontiernet.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:hilfiger@frontiernet.net"><U>Ray Hilfiger</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:lstuhler@rochester.rr.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:lstuhler@rochester.rr.com"><U>Lin Stuhler</U></A></div> <div> <B>  <script type="text/javascript"> var sc_project=2858058; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=29; var sc_security="fac02cca"; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter_xhtml.js"></script><noscript><div class="statcounter"><a class="statcounter" href="http://www.statcounter.com/"><img class="statcounter" src="http://c30.statcounter.com/2858058/0/fac02cca/0/" alt="unique visitor counter" /></a></div></noscript>   </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=471 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>John *1858</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04007040.png" border=0 width="263" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>John *1858</B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>by Sandra Knopf</I></FONT></div> <div> <B>John Hilfiker, Eureka, California</B></div> <div> My Grandfather, Johannes Hilfiker was born 30 September 1858 in Kölliken, Aagrau, Switzerland. He immigrated to the United States in about 1879. He went first to Rochester New York where he had family. I have heard that he and some other young men built a log cabin but I know very little of this period of his life.</div> <div> When his father died August 8, 1882, he traveled home to Switzerland to settle up the family business.</div> <div> In 1884 he returned to the United States for good. After visiting with friends and family in New York, he traveled across the country visiting friends and family along the way. When he reached San Francisco, California he booked passage on a ship to Portland Oregon. He intended to visit a friend, Jake Luscher who had a farm on the Columbia River. One of the ports of call along the way was Eureka, California. He liked the place so well that he got off the ship and made Humboldt County his home.<IMG SRC="072a1d90.jpg" border=0 width="161" height="217" ALT="John Hilfiker of Eureka CA" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="3" VSPACE="3"></div> <div> Soon after arriving he took the job of managing Capt. H.H. Buhne’s Ranch at Spruce Point, just south of Eureka. It was mainly a dairy ranch which took many hired hands to run the ranch, since there was no power except horses and men. they shipped milk to Eureka and Butter to San Francisco. It was important to feed the crew well to keep good help. One of the coopers, a person who constructed barrels, was Henning Otto Seemann who had recently arrived from Denmark suggested that they send for his daughter Christine who was cooking for a wealthy family in San Francisco and was not happy there. John, as he was called in the US was so taken with her that he married her 10 August 1890. Two children were born at the ranch, John Henry 12 February 1890 and Christine Sophie 17 July 1892.</div> <div> John built a house on Searle Street in Eureka and the family moved there in 1899. He reclaimed tideland and engaged in truck gardening. Ruth Susan was born 26 April 1900 and Harold Otto 6 May 1902.</div> <div> The family moved to Tydd street in Eureka and John quit truck gardening and entered into a partnership with Charles Pickett digging wells . In addition to the well digging John made Concrete well Casings at his home which was the start of a very successful family business now named Hilfiker Retaining Wall.</div> <div> John Henry married Zaida Sherburne(no children),</div> <div> Christine Sophie married Henry Nelson Davis, two daughters Idylene and Rosellen, </div> <div> Ruth Susan married Howard Soules, three daughters,Sonia,Sandra and Karen. </div> <div> Harold Otto married Louise Ingalls and had two boys William Kent and John Loring and a daughter Elizabeth Jill.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>John Hilfiker & Christina Seeman Marriage License</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="07ead450.jpg" border=0 width="685" height="1093" ALT="John Hilfiker Marriage License" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <I>Submitted by Sandra Knopf</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.globalscape.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.globalscape.com"><U><IMG SRC="0c754290.gif" border=0 width="84" height="41" ALT="CSB Bug" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>  Send your comments or suggestions to web master at <A HREF="mailto:wm@hilficker.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:wm@hilficker.com"><U>wm@hilficker.com</U></A>.  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.addr.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.addr.com"><U><IMG SRC="071581f0.gif" border=0 width="88" height="31" ALT="Addr Bug" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>