Christopher Kloepfer
1868-

From "Joys and Tears of Yesteryears":

Lena was the proud possessor of a beautiful buggy and a high stepping sorrel which she drove to Placerville with aplomb. She would park at Williams Livery Stable, in a block long alley back of Main Street. The horses got good care there as they were refueled with oats, curried down and given a clean stall to rest in. All this and parking the vehicle, too, time unlimited for the magnificent sum of four bits. Lena was an attractive young lady and I am sure that she must have had many admirers. She had an abundance of black hair spiraled in a bun on the top of her head and sifting a little to the back. Chris Kloepfer, who did occasional seasonal work for the family, found her to be pleasant to be around and very friendly. He admired her and thought of courting her. Chris may have been born too soon as his was the age that one's family thought that to marry outside of one's ethnic group was not the in thing to do.

His brothers, ever bent on plaguing, did a little joking and clowning around when they heard him mention her name so often and Chris abandoned his romantic pursuit. So, contrary to what we are led to believe a little nonsense now and then is not always relished by the wisest men. (I might mention here that Chris was a hard worker, a very intelligent young man, and an avid reader.) In retrospect, we wonder if Lena ever did any dreaming along those possible romantic lines. Well, that remains a moot question.

And another excerpt:

Such were her days before Louis passed away in 1880.

After that she took life a little easier, but problems still beset her, like the time when the boys were loading hay on a wagon in the field on one very hot day when Chris suffered a sunstroke. His sister, Louisa, who was nearby, ran to see what the trouble was and Chris began to run across the field with her in pursuit. He ran through Orelli’s field and toward the south fork of the American River when Louisa caught up with him. She directed him home where he was made comfortable and rested while his mother consulted the family remedy book. After several weeks, he apparently recovered completely and his old ambition for the ranch work returned.

As the years passed, Fred and Frank spent more time away from home. Bernard married and Louis (Jr.) did mining in the nearby streams. George and Chris spent their time at home. Chris was the ambitious one and Elizabeth felt that he should have a place of his own. She took up a homestead for him on idle land to the north and adjacent to Orellis. At the time, he was not yet 21. She turned it over to him when it was proved upon. Later in life, Chris suffered a type of breakdown indicated by his listlessness, his loss of ambition as he drifted into a world of unreality. This was thought to be an aftermath of his sunstroke. Louisa took him to San Francisco where he lived out his last days.

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