Biography of Earnest Martin Hoen

Ernest Martin Hoen, of notable ability as an architect, is following his profession in Sacramento and in San Francisco. He was born at Santa Rosa, California, in 1872, a son of Berthold (“Barney”) and Marie (Andersen Gade) Hoen. The father, a native of Germany, came to America when eleven years of age, located in Baltimore and in 1849 arrived in California, having made the long and wearisome journey around Cape Horn. He located first in San Francisco, where he engaged in the commission business. He was burned out three times with the three great fires of San Francisco, each time losing his entire fortune. In 1852 he with his cousin went to Santa Rosa and was the founder and pioneer of that city. Later he went to Windsor, nine miles north of Santa Rosa, California, where he was extensively engaged in the manufacture of wines, following the pursuit up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1884. He belonged to a family noted for artistic skill, the members of the firm of A. Hoen & Company, lithographers, of Baltimore, being his brothers. They are recognized as among the leading representatives of their line in this country.

The mother of Mr. E. M. Hoen was a native of Denmark and a representative of an old and distinguished family of that country. She came to this country following the death of her sister, Mrs. G. Conzelman, who some years before had located in St. Louis, Mrs. Hoen being at that time twenty-one years of age. Her stepfather, Neils Gade, was one of the foremost musical composers of the nineteenth century and died at Copenhagen, Denmark, at the age of eighty-four years. Another brother, Carl Andersen, was one of the noted writers of that country and died in 1888. Both the author and the music composer were men of national fame and their loss was greatly deplored in their own land and in other countries where their abilities had made them known.

Ernest M. Hoen is the third in order of birth in a family of two sons and two daughters; Mary E., Bertholda, and Carol A. Hoen being the other members of the family. He began his education in the public schools of Santa Rosa and at the age of fifteen entered the Manual Training School of the Washington University at St. Louis, being graduated with the class of 1889. On returning to California, he took up architecture as a profession and for three years was connected with the firm of McDougal & Brothers, architects, of San Francisco, while through the succeeding five years he was associated with James Seadler of Sacramento and Fresno. After conducting business for five years on his own account, he formed a partnership with Mr. Seadler in July 1903, with an office in the Rialto building, San Francisco, and another in Sacramento. The firm enjoys a good patronage, having won a reputation that places them among the leading architects of the central portion of the state, and evidences of their skill are manifest in many fine modern structures in different sections of the west and in the two cities in which they maintain business headquarters and in Fresno.

In 1899 Mr. Hoen was married to Miss Edna Lewis, a native of Sacramento and a daughter of L. L. Lewis, a retired merchant and one of the early settlers and prominent business men of Sacramento County, taking an active and helpful part in its early improvement and in the development of its natural resources, thus promoting its prosperity. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoen has been born a son, Martin Lewis. In his social relations, Mr. Hoen is a Mason and also an Elk, while politically he is a Republican. His attention, however, is chiefly given to the development of his business, wherein he has already won for himself a creditable position, gaining the success which in a profession can be attained only through merit and comprehensive knowledge of the work connected with the chosen field of labor.


Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.


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