William Benitz & Josephine Kolmer

(Last updated: Friday July 10, 2009)

Wilhelm Böniz - William Benitz

1815-1876

    Born Wilhelm Böniz on 8 February, 1815, to a middle class family in Endingen, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany.   His father (born Franz Antonius Böniz in 1773), grand-father (Thaddeus Böniz), and older brother (Thadeus) were all master coopers (barrel or cask makers) - wine has been produced around Endingen since Roman times.  Wilhelm's mother was Maria Anna Wagner (born about 1778).  His parents were married in 1800. 

    Apparently he grew up in Endingen and was well educated for the time.  He spoke Badischen, the dialect of German spoken in Baden.  According to family legend he attended Freiburg university, but given his social standing as the son of a tradesman, it's much more likely he was in Freiburg as an apprentice - trade unknown.

    Note: To the best of our knowledge, Wilhelm Benitz never had a middle name.  His initials are WB.  In the past we have refered to him erroneously as WOB, the result of inserting Otto as his middle name.   For more on this, see below.

    Exactly why Wilhelm left Germany is not known.  His older brother Thaddeus had taken over the cooperage from their father and Wilhelm was likely forced to consider other means of making a living.  Whatever the reason for his leaving, he left as most did, without the required official permission.  He claims to have arrived in the Americas in 1832.  According to family legend, he left Germany at age 17 as a sailor on a merchant brig.  Caught by a storm, the ship was wrecked upon the coast of México where he lived for several months with the local Indians; very likely on the coast of present day Texas.

    We know Wilhelm was in Texas in 1836 and 1837 by his signature on a bill of sale.  He sold a voucher for land he received from the Republic of Texas in lieu of pay for military services rendered between October, 1836, and August, 1837.  He served as a private in Company II, first Regiment of Permanent Volunteers, under the name of William Bennett (sometimes Bennetts) though he signed himself as William Benitz.  There is the possibility his service began a few months earlier: Bennett, Wm. is listed as a private participating in the battle of San Jacinto, April 1836 (when the Texians beat the Mexicans, winning their war of independence).  However, Bennett is a common English surname so without definitive proof (in the form of handwriting or signature) it cannot be assumed that it was him.

    Apart from the years (1836-1837) as a private in the army of the Republic of Texas, little is known of his whereabouts or how he made his living between the ages of 17 and 28 (1832-1842).  Family lore to the contrary, according to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas, he was never a Texas Ranger.

    He did not have an easy life, as is born out by his letters to his brother Thadeus in Germany.  In June of 1853 he wrote: I have made my fortune, but nobody will envy me, if I would tell them what I went through in all parts of America, on water and land and how many unfortunate fellow country-men I have already met on my former trips.  In March of 1855 he wrote: I will try to make a little description of my travels, struggles and adventures,... I have already done many things in America, not nothing which an honest man would reject. [Note: Unfortunately, he never did describe his travels, at least not in the letters we have.]

    In a letter to Thadeus Benitz in May of 1852, his brother Anton states "I have found our brother William Benitz, whom we missed for the last 12 years; he is in California", which suggests his whereabouts were known to his family in 1840.

    William most likely arrived in California in 1842 as he claimed.  In 1843 John Yates took him to Sacramento in search of employment with John Sutter.  William worked nearly 2 years for Sutter, who put him in charge of the Hock farm and later Fort Ross.  During this time, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen in Mendocino county on 15 June, 1844; his papers were signed by Governor Manuel Micheltorena.

Fort Ross, California (circa 1995)

   William made his home at Fort Ross and went into farming and ranching in a big way.  But Fort Ross was not his only property (See California Ranchos 1842-67).

Josefa Kolmerer - Josephine Kolmer

1830-1912

    Josephine was from Endingen, Grand Duchy of Baden (part of modern Germany), a fellow native of Wilhelm Benitz, her future husband.  She was born on 6 January, 1830, Josefa Kollmerer (see her vital records below), daughter of Michael Kolmer and Josefa Wagner.  In 1833 the family emigrated from Baden to the US.  They lived in North Carolina (where her siblings were born) then Missouri before emigrating yet again.  The Kolmer [a.k.a. Coleman] family were among the first 400 emigrants from the east to arrive in California, travelling overland by wagon-train.  They arrived at Sutter's Fort near Sacramento in late October, 1845.  Fifteen-year-old Josephine likely walked most of the 2,000 miles [3,200 kilometers] from St. Joseph, Missouri. 

    According to Bancroft, William was bondsman for some members of the 1845 wagon train, possibly including Michael Kolmer whom he knew from Endingen (see letters).  We don't know when the Kolmer family actually moved to Fort Ross, most likely in late 1845 or very early in 1846.

    It is not at all surprising that Josephine captured William's interest.  She was one of the very first (and few) single women to arrive in California from the US - certainly the only one at remote Fort Ross.  Better yet, she was from Endingen, his home village in Germany, and spoke the same dialect of German, Badischen; and at sixteen she was of a very marriageable age.  According to their son Alfred's biography, they were married in 1846 - probably at Fort Ross at an informal family ceremony, date unknown but probably early in the year.

    At that time in the remoter areas of California clergymen were scarce.  In addition, there was little civil authority in California during 1846 while it changed allegiance from Mexico to the US.  Young couples didn't wait for the governing powers to sort themselves out which meant marriages (sometimes baptisms as well) were often formalized months after the fact.

    William's and Josephine's union was formalized by a justice on February 23, 1847, and is the third entry in the Sonoma County registry of marriages (see the record below).  He was 32 years old and she was two months past her seventeenth birthday.  They were likely married near present day Occidental, California (south of the Russian River), as several of their witnesses were settlers from that area.  Also, right about that time Josephine's parents moved from Fort Ross to a valley south-west of Occidental - to the valley that took their name, Coleman Valley.

    William and Josephine set up home at Fort Ross.  It was a lonely place and life was not easy.   Their first three children died in infancy, two tragically.  In about 1851 Josephine's parents returned to the Fort Ross area to a farm two miles north at Timber Cove, a gift from William.  They probably provided Josephine with much needed support and comfort.  It may be just a coincidence, but her fourth child, Franz (Frank), born in May, 1850, was her first child to survive the frontier life.  She and William eventually had ten children, all born at Fort Ross.  Except for the ill-fated first three, the rest survived into adulthood. 

    With much hard work William turned the abandoned Russian colony into a productive farm and ranch  (see menu entries), his letters, and Josephine's collection of photos).  The ranch was productive enough to enable him to buy out his partners as well as make investments in mining ventures.

     In 1867 William sold Fort Ross and moved his now numerous family to Oakland and sent his children to school.  Their new home occupied most of a city block on 8th Street (today part of China Town).  He set up business in real estate and other investments, building himself a fine two storey office building on Broadway between 10th and 11th Streets (today replaced by an office building, directly across from the Marriott Convention Center).  He is on record as a capitalist and the county records show he made numerous real estate transactions, many quite profitable.

    In 1866 William's younger brother Frank emigrated to Argentina with a group of Californians where they established the Colonia California, located north of Santa Fe city on the banks of the San Javier river.  According to an article in the The Standard (an English language newspaper printed in Buenos Aires) of October 16, 1867, William - described as a wealthy capitalist - was in Chile on his way to visit Frank at the colony.  However, we believe the reporter was mistaken, possibly confusing Frank's son who also named William.  The dates do not fit for in late 1867 William was actively purchasing real estate in  Oakland.

    He did not join Frank at that time, but by 1874 William had grown dissatisfied with his situation in California.  The constraints of city life must have been difficult for him after running his own show at Fort Ross for 25 years where his word was final.  He complained of being treated poorly as a foreigner.  He most likely was; though, in fact, he was living very well (again, see Oakland).   Regardless, it served as the excuse he needed to leave California. 

    Large tracts of land were no longer available in California - not in the sizes he wanted.  So when Frank returned from Argentina in 1873 with stories of the opportunities to be had on the wide open pampas, William was easily enticed into moving yet again.

    William and Josephine sold everything and the entire family emigrated.  It was an arduous journey which took them from California to Panama, New York (US), Southampton (UK, only time enough to tranship), and finally Buenos Aires.  According to family lore, when William was refused help to settle in Argentina by the German embassy but was instead helped by the British embassy, he swore never to speak German again and English has predominated within the family ever since (see below).  When you consider that William had left Germany 44 years previously and in the meantime had taken up Mexican then US citizenship, the refusal by the German embassy is not at all surprising.   Furthermore, no matter how wealthy he had become, it is also likely the German embassy viewed William as nothing more than the upstart son of a lowly tradesman.

    His son Alfred recorded their journey from California to Argentina in his diary, much of it is included in his biography.   The English language newspaper, The Standard, reported their arrival on October 21, 1874. 

    Based in Rosario, Santa Fé, William and his sons inspected prospective farmland. After 4 months he purchased 4 square leagues [10,800 ha. or 26,690 ac.) of land from Carlos Vernet, paying 16,000 pesos fuertes [$426,600 USD-2000].   He named his estancia "La California".  It is located 100 km. northwest of Rosario and 9 km. south of present day Las Rosas, Santa Fé.  However, Las Rosas did not exist at that time and they marked off the property by counting the turns of a carreta (cart) wheel, going north 30 km. from Cańada de Gómez.

Estancia "La California", color lithograph by John Schreiber (1878)

(Note the US flag)

    The family inaugurated the main house on Christmas day, 1875 - a magnificent house built in the style of the Franciscan missions of California, USA.  It was no coincidence the estancia was named "La California".  The family's California roots were strong; letters and visits kept them in contact with their now distant friends and relatives, and for many years they celebrated the 4th of July.

    William died the next year on 27 June, 1876, at "La California".  Josephine lived another 36 years until 20 August, 1912, when she died at "Villa Josefina", her summer home in the hills, Cruz Grande, Córdoba, Argentina.  Both are buried in the family plot at "La California".  Today descendants of William and Josephine still live at estancia "La California" and neighboring estancias, however, the acreage is greatly reduced (a family gathering was held there April 2000 to celebrate 125 years in Argentina).

    We have in the past mistakenly added the middle name of Otto to Wilhelm Benitz's name, referring to him as WOB (Wilhelm Otto Benitz).  Where or when this mistake originated, we don't know.  In all the official records we have seen, he never had a middle name, he was simply Wilhelm Böniz, William Benitz, William Bennitz, William Bennett(s), or Guillermo Benitz.  We have not found a single official document, written in any language, that includes Otto in his name, from his baptismal records to his tombstone.  In Texas during the 1830's he is identified in army pay records as William Bennett or William Bennetts.  For a short period in California, from 1847 through 1850, he was identified as William Benet or William Bennett on some but not all real estate transactions.  Otherwise, from when he arrived in California in c.1842 through when he left in 1874, he is identified in newspaper articles, court proceedings, and deeds as Guillermo Bennitz, William Bennitz, or William Benitz.  In all cases where he signed his name in English, including earlier in Texas, he signs himself as William Benitz.  No middle initial appeared in his name when it was emblazoned on buildings.  In 1871, the office building in Oakland had W Benitz; in 1875, the family house at estancia La California had W.B., his tombstone reads William Benitz.  He is WB.

    It probably was not a major sacrifice to Wilhelm when, upon being refused help by the German embassy in Buenos Aires, he swore never to speak German again.  William's children, reared and educated in the US, were more fluent in English than German.   They corresponded between themselves in English - at least in the letters that have survived.  Sons Alfred and John wrote their private diaries in English, almost all of daughter Josephine's entries in her poesy books are in English - only after marrying Johan Schreiber did she make a few entries in German.  The estancia (ranch) diaries of the 1880's and 1890's are written in English sprinkled with Spanish camp (rural) terminology.  Living in Argentina they soon learnt Spanish yet English continued to predominate within the family.  The lone wealthy North-Americans, they joined the British community of "gentleman farmers".  Son William's wife was from the US (Minnesotta), Alfred's from England, John's from Scotland.  Their children were educated in English by governesses or at private schools in Argentina, England, and the US.  Spanish was treated as a second language.

    During the late 19th. century, it was the policy of the Argentine government to encourage immigrants from northern Europe.  Many came from England and Germany to seek their fortunes as businessmen and estancieros.  As a result, estancia "La California" was bordered by German estancias to the east and west, and by British to the north - it's no coincidence that when the railroad was built in the 1890's (by a British company), the local town was renamed "Las Rosas", followed to the north by "Los Cardos", "El Trebol", and "San Jorge".   Sailing from Southampton on the s.s. "Boyne" with William & Josephine in 1874 was the Bohtlingk family from Germany.  Their estancia, "Las Chilcas", bordered "La California" to the west - they are still there.  Another family on the "Boyne", the Schielle's, were also from Germany.  They settled near Venado Tuerto in southern Santa Fé province. 

    [For those of you not up on your national flowers & saints, the towns were named after: the Rose of England, the Thistle of Scotland, the Clover of Ireland, and Saint George of England; sorry, but Wales lost out to Carlos Pellegrini.]

    It is well known in Argentina that both the British and German immigrants have been the most stubborn in giving up their original languages and customs.   It has taken 125 years, but finally the latest generations of William & Josephine's Argentine descendants are more comfortable communicating in Spanish than English.  Yet note how on this web-site we presume family members can at least read English. [Habits die hard - especially when my ancestors are German, Scot, and Irish.]

    No, not by a long shot during his lifetime and that of his immediate children.  They lived exceedingly well, even by today's standards.

    From a purely agricultural standpoint, there is no doubt William made the right choice in following his brother Frank's advice.  The land at "La California" is far more productive than that at Fort Ross.  It is flat with deep extremely fertile loess soils, today capable of producing 2 crops per year with virtually no artificial fertilizer (Wheat: sown in June is harvested in November.  Soybeans - soja de segunda: sown into the wheat stubble in November is harvested in April).  Though Fort Ross contains beautiful coastal hills and wooded valleys they are for the most part only good for their timber or grazing of livestock.  (However, from a non-agricultural standpoint, Sonoma County coastal property commands a premium price today.  Two hours from San Francisco, it is prized by developers for building getaway resorts and homes. But selling land is a one-shot deal.)

    From an economic standpoint, William had by chance made the right choice as well - at least for himself, his immediate children (Alfred lived until 1935), and most of his grandchildren.  Argentina, with elected governments since 1862, was on the threshold of its glory years - the Belle Epoque (1880-1930) - during which it enjoyed political stability and tremendous economic growth - as did the family.  The family arrived in 1874.  In 1878, Argentina made its first shipment of wheat.  In 1879, the first shipment of chilled meat (mutton) was sent to Europe.  By 1880 the indigenous tribes had been conquered and pushed off the fertile pampas, making way for a massive influx of Europeans.  Farming and ranching enjoyed a boom and by 1910 Argentina was a major exporter of primary agricultural products (beef, maiz, mutton, sugar, wheat, wine, wool).  It was ranked among the world's richest nations.

    The Benitz family did very well indeed during Argentina's Belle Epoque.  It tripled its land holdings, built summer villas in Córdoba, played high-handicap polo, went on safari in Africa, took extended trips to Europe and the US, and sent their children to private boarding schools in England and leading universities in the US.

    However, the Belle Epoque was brought to an abrupt end in 1930 by the Great Depression (industrialised Europe lacked the funds to purchase Argentina's products), and by the overthrow of an elected (radical party) government by (conservative & regressive) military and civilian forces.  With its economy in shambles and democratic institutions seriously weakened, lacking visionary leadership (a la FDR), Argentina fell into serious decline.  The conservatives had set a sad precedent of government change by force.  Fascism and dictorships followed interspersed with short lived elected governments.

    After World War-II, the future of Argentina appeared bleak to several members of the now extended Benitz family.  Veterans of the war, they took the opportunity to stay in Canada, Australia, or the UK.  Most of those who returned to Argentina in one way or another made their living from agriculture - to some extent protected as it was (and is) Argentina's principal export and revenue earner.  However, with Argentina in constant turmoil, several more family members have left to join their cousins.  Some have returned, but in general the tendency has been to leave.

    Today, in spite of 70 years of political turmoil, moral decay, and economic mismanagement, Argentina is still agriculturally rich and a major exporter of food to the world.  Since 1983, it has had a democratically elected government - maybe incompetent & corrupt but all the same elected by the people.  It is a beautiful country and, given half a chance, may yet reverse its failings within our lifetimes.