Louis Kloepfer, Jr. 1864-1936
The 1892 Great Register Index, El Dorado County, California, courtesy of the Caldwell County, Texas Genealogical and Historical Society. The Great Register includes this info:
Name/age/ht/complexion/color eyes/color hair/visible marks/Occupation/ Nativity/Residence/ Precinct / PO Address / Naturalized / date
Kloepfer, Louis/ 5' 7.5" / light / blue / brown / farmer / California
/ Coloma tp /
coloma / Coloma / ... / 10 Sep 1893
The following references to Louis Kloepfer are from "Joys and Tears of Yesteryears" by Anna Luneman Baldwin ,1975:
We have already seen indications of this as acreages are being cleared on Heavenly Tree Ridge which is to the west of grandmother's home. The ridge was so named when Louis Kloepfer (Jr.) walked up from Webber Creek where he had been prospecting, aided by a cane cut from a Heavenly Tree. When he reached the top of the hill, he stuck it in the deep mud there. In the spring the cane sprouted and grew.
It is known that they moved from Pinchem before Bernard, their third of the then living children, was born in the spring of 1859. We know this because Adelaide (Kloepfer) Luneman said many times that she and Louis were the only ones born in Pinchem.
The other children were Louis, born in 1865; Chris, 1869; Frank the next year and George in 1875. The Kloepfer family had eight boys and five girls.
As the years passed, Fred and Frank spent more time away from home. Bernard married and Louis (Jr.) did mining in the nearby streams.
One by one the Kloepfer boys (men) left the ranch to settle elsewhere and many changes took place in just a few short years. Louis went to San Francisco where he met and married Emily Johnson. Two daughters were born from this union. They were Loretta in 1908 and Cecelia in 1911. Loretta married Charles F. Ruether, a widower. They were the parents of a boy born in 1941 and a girl named May Ellen in 1944. Cecelia married Alfred Vickers. They had one son, Alfred Vickers, Jr. He was born in 1935. I have little information on Louis’s family after they grew up. This often happens when parents are divorced.
Louis’s marriage ended in divorce and he then returned to the ranch. He never married again. Emily’s second marriage was to Henry Bragg, a brother of Ella Kelley’s. After Louis returned he resumed his mining around in the streams which never proved too profitable. He gradually became more and more afflicted with rheumatism throughout his entire bone structure. He aged beyond his years, his back became very bent and he got around with the aid of one cane, later on, two. He would walk the short distance over the knoll to his nephews on the Luneman place almost every day. He had faith in cures such as putting buckeye balls on a string and letting them dangle inside of his shirt. That did not work the magic that he expected so his sister, Mary, o whom he was very fond, mentioned another fad which might have the hoped for cure. He then sported a copper wire bracelet around his wrist. This, he declared, helped him; perhaps mind over matter as no one else could detect any great results.
Notwithstanding the above, Louis was intelligent and had a retentive memory which earned him the nickname of Nip by his nephews. The name was thought to be a contraction of Napoleon who had all the answers-or so he thought. One day in about 1911, Louis came limping over as fast as he could to advise us that some bees were swarming in the sky and coming our way. Sometimes these bees fly for many miles before they find what they consider a good crotch or home in a tree to settle down in. Acting on Uncle Louis’s advice, Margaret and I got out every available pot and pan in the house and with metal articles and sticks we banged away. This din served to confuse the bees and when they could not longer follow the queen’s voice the banging paid off. She decided to light in the nearest tree which was less than 100 feet from our house. The bees flew around the queen and the area for about a day, perhaps listening to her instructions before settling down to the business of making their home of wax and after that nectar gathering. A year or so went by and then one day Uncle came over and decided that it was time to gather some honey. We dressed him in a gunny sack-there was always a number of them around-thrown over his head with slits for eyes. His shirt was tied at the wrists and his pants at the ankles. An old sloppy hat finished his attire as he proceeded to gather honey by "robbing" the bees. He uttered many "ow-ows " as he handed the honeycombs down into a pan. Margaret and I kept a safe distance.
When Louis returned to the old home where he spent his last years, the building was getting weather worn and needed much repair work. It was torn down later to the extent that only one room, the kitchen remained. The upper rooms were removed and the remaining room took on the appearance of a cabin. This is where Louis lived until his death in 1936. Prior to that time and when the house was in a fairly good condition, it was rented to James and Vada (Sierra Nevada) Bryson who lived in it during the winter months when they closed Phillips, a summer resort on Highway 50, 48 miles above Placerville.
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