The history of San Joaquin county is familiar to Henry Mohr because he has been a resident of this part of the state for forty-six years, and for more than a half of a century he has lived in California. He has watched with interest the progress of events which have shaped the annals of the county, has supported many measures for the general good and has actively co-operated in measures that have had for their object the welfare and substantial upbuilding of this portion of the state. He has now passed the Psalmist's span of threescore years and ten, and can look back over a life well spent, in which his duties have been capably performed, while his obligations have been honorably met.

Mr. Mohr was born in Holstein, Germany, on the 12th of March, 1829, and was a son of Peter and Margaret (Wolf) Mohr, who were also natives of Holstein. He lost his parents when a lad of only nine years, and was then reared in a neighbor's family until fifteen years of age, when he went to sea on a German merchant ship, spending several years as a sailor on vessels engaged in the merchant marine trade. On these sea voyages he visited at different times the East Indies, the West Indies and other islands and countries of the globe, and has sailed around both Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope.

Mr. Mohr retired from a seafaring life in 1851, at which time he was at the port of San Francisco. He determined to continue his residence in the Golden state and went to Alameda county, where he spent several years within its borders. He at first made his home on Union Island and was there engaged in farming and the raising of cattle until the winter of 1861-2. In that winter a big flood inundated Union Island and the adjacent territory and involved Mr. Mohr in a great financial loss. With brave spirit and strong determination, however, he set to work to retrieve his lost possessions, and engaged in the lumber business and also in operating a freighting boat on the San Joaquin river as a common carrier for several years. In 1868 he located upon his present farm near Bethany, and has since engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. In ths he has been quite successful and is now again in very comfortable financial circumstances. He has seen this section of the state developed from primitive conditions, the wild land transformed into splendidly improved farms. One hundred and sixty acres of the ranch which Mr. Mohr now owns and occupies he pre-empted from the government, and in consequence it came into his possession entirely unimproved. With characteristic energy he began its development now has an excellent farm property. From a business standpoint he has been successful, and at all times he has been straightforward and honorable in his relations with his fellow men.

Mr. Mohr was united in marriage to Miss Dorothea Lindeman, who was born in Holstein, Germany, and they have become the parents of four children: William, Dorothea, George and Mary.

Mr. Mohr exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party, and in matters of citizenship he has never been found lacking, but on the other hand is a supporter of modern methods of progress and measures for the general good. Whatever he has undertaken he has carried forward to successful completion and in his business career he has displayed laudable ambition and unfaltering determination.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume II

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine