THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
HENRY RENGSTORFF
Pioneer Farmer of Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, California
Surnames: HAMBRUCH, HAAG, HESSLER, MARTEL, ASKAM, McMILLAN
A man of many resources and adaptability was the late Henry Rengstorff,
who came to California in 1850. His contribution to agriculture and
horticulture in the Santa Clara Valley is hard to estimate, for he owned
six valuable and well-improved farms throughout the county. When he
arrived in California he had little in a financial way, but his mind was
well stored with the practical and homely maxims of the German people,
and his youth had been spent in an atmosphere of refinement. He was
born September 29, 1829, near Bremen, Province of Hanover, Germany, the
son of Fritz and Amelia (Hambruch) Rengstorff. His father, Fritz
Rengstorff, was an educator, and also the owner of a tavern on a country
road a few miles from the seaport town of Bremen. His mother, also born
in Germany, preserved the longevity in the family, attaining to the age
of ninety-four years. The father lived to be sixty-six years old and
had, besides Henry, on son, Fritz, and two daughters.
Henry Rengstorff was reared and educated in his native province, and
upon reaching twenty-one determined to seek a newer country and there
establish a home and fortune. The spring of 1850 found him afloat on a
sailer, bound for San Francisco via Cape Horn. From San Francisco he
came to Santa Clara County and worked on farms in the neighborhood of
San Jose until 1853, when he purchased a squatter's right to 290 acres
on Silver Creek and engaged in general farming and stockraising for
three years. His next squatter's right was of 290 acres, and in 1864 he
purchased his home place of 164 acres, on which his daughter, Mrs. W. F.
Haag, now lives, one and a half miles north of Mountain View. This
place was devoted to the raising of grain and hay, as was also the farm
of 227 acres near Milpitas. A farm of 117 acres on the San Francisco
Road, near Los Altos, was planted entirely to fruit, and the farm of
1,200 acres in San Mateo County was devoted to general farming and
stockraising. He also owned a ranch upon which was built the Rengstorff
Landing, and a half interest in a ranch of 520 acres east of San Jose.
For a number of years he rented all of his farms and his son, Henry,
assumed the management of the Rengstorff Landing and the warehouse.
The marriage of Mr. Rengstorff occurred in San Jose about 1855, and
united him with Miss Christine Hessler, a native of Germany, who lived
to share in his well deserved fortune. They were the parents of seven
children: Mary, who became the wife of A. C. Martel, died and left two
sons, Robert and Alfred; John H. married in Seattle and removed to Nome,
Alaska, and there died; Elise is the wife of Dr. O. P. Askam, died and
left two children, Earl L. and O. Perry, who were overseas during the
late war; they are both professional musicians; Christine F. became the
wife of Robert McMillan and they have one child, Daniel H., who was in
the naval reserve during the late war; he later became a student at the
Law School of the University of California, and in 1920 met death in an
automobile accident in San Francisco; Henry is a rancher of Mountain
View; and Charles W. passed away in infancy. Mr. Rengstorff passed away
in 1906 at the age of seventy-seven, and his wife survived him until
1919 and reached the age of ninety-two. Mr. and Mrs. Rengstorff were
active in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Mountain View and
were liberal contributors. After his arrival in California he strove to
establish a school system, and served as school director for many years
and erected the schoolhouse in the Whisman district. With
characteristic perseverance and thrift he worked to realize his
ambitions, and he was highly esteemed throughout the community for his
many sterling qualities.
Transcribed by Joseph Kral, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 383
SANTA CLARA - THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT