If long service in one position is a test of merit and trustworthiness, Joachim G. Weidemann has certainly stood the test. As manager of the Southern Pacific Milling Company at Bradley, California, he is, in point of service, the oldest of about thirty managers along the Coast Division, having occupied this place for thirty-six years. He was born in Norway, on April 10, 1857, and is a son of C. F. and Caroline (Tellesen) Weidemann. His father served for a long time in the Norwegian navy, then became an architect and spent the closing years of his life as a farmer.
Joachim G. Weidemann was reared on a farm until he reached his fourteenth year, when he took to the sea. During the next fifteen years he touched at all the principal ports of the world and met with many strange and interesting adventures. In 1886 he gave up his sailor’s life to become an employee of the street railway company in San Francisco. In 1888 he came to Bradley and the next year was made manager of the Milling Company, and continues in that position. He is also the owner of an eighty-acre farm near Bradley.
On October 15, 1889, Mr. Weidemann and Miss Clara Shedbolt were united in marriage. She was born near the city of Bristol, England, and came with her mother to America in early childhood. To Mr. and Mrs. Weidemann have been born a son and a daughter: Ralph G., and Dorothy C. The latter is now the wife of G. A. Wasson, assistant cashier of the King City branch of the Bank of Italy. During the World war he was a mechanic in the United States Aviation Corps and spent one year in France. Ralph is now in San Jose. He tried to enlist for service overseas, but being at that time under eighteen years of age was not accepted, much to his regret.
Mr. Weidemann is a Knight of Pythias and a past master of San Miguel Lodge, No. 285, F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and in these orders is popular because of his sterling worth and genial good fellowship. Mrs. Weidemann is a past worthy matron of San Miguel Chapter No. 102, Order of the Eastern Star. Politically Mr. Weidemann is a Republican and while he takes a commendable interest in all public questions, he prefers running his mill to running for office.
Source: History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California : cradle of California’s history and romance : dating from the planting of the cross of Christendom upon the shores of Monterey Bay by Fr. Junipero Serra, and those intrepid adventurers who accompanied him, down to the present day. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1925.