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The San Joaquin Historian cite CH ICORY fACTORY
OF tACI-IMAN AND GRANDT
ON IllE SAN joAQUIt-J
A Publication of the San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum
The San Joaquin Historian
A Publication ofthe San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum
Vol XIV- Number 1 Spring 2000
Editor Daryl Morrison
Design Karen Hope
Published by The San Joaquin County Historical Society Inc
Micke Grove Regional Park PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030 (209) 331-2055 (209) 953-3460
President Helen Tretheway
Vice Presidents
Craig Rasmussen Immediate Past President
Mel Wingett Finance
Christopher Engh Publications
Elise Austin Forbes Secretary
Robert F McMaster Treasurer
Director San Joaquin County Historical Society Michael W Bennett
Cover Ralph Yardley cartoon Courtesy Haggin Musuem
About This Issue
In this issue we learn the background of the charming River Mill The River Mill is a banquet facility located in French Camp in an historic building that was once the Bachman amp Brandt California ChicofJ FactofJ I became aware of this establishment when I had a family event there in 1993 The beautiful grounds and hisshytoric old building can only make one wonder What went on here r I began to do some reading to learn about the California ChicofJ Works and the business partnership ofBachman and Brandt I presented myguests with a oneshypage histofJ of the California ChicofJ Works [I also happened to have a few pounds ofchicofJ coffee in my freezer from visits to New Orleans and served my guests chicofJ coffee For those who are curious chicofJ coffee may be special ordered from Aquarius Coffees in Lincoln Center Stockton or online from Cafe du Monde
httpwwwcafedumondecomcafeshop]
A recent quefJ by a reader as to whether there was more information on the California ChicofJ Works made me realize this stOfJ would be worth developing So dear reader grab a cup a coffee (oiy you probably dont have chicofJ cofshyfee yet) and enjoy
The author Daryl Morrison is Head of HoltshyAtherton Special Collections at the University of the Pacific Library and editor of the San Joaquin Historian
The San Joaquin Historian Page 1
Bachman amp Brandt California Chicory Factory
By Daryl Morrison
The old California Chicory Factory founded in 1873 was owned by Charles HW Brandt and Carl August Bachman (often spelled Bachmann) The factory still exists today as a large red brick building and is now called The River Mill
The facility is owned and was renovated by Jim Silveria and Clint Marshall It operates as a banquet hall and winery in the historic building with the embellishshyment of a beautiful garden To get to the site head south from Stockton on Interstate Five and at French Camp take Matthews Road exit and drive along Manthey Frontage road to Bowman Road Follow Bowman Road west until you reach the San Joaquin River The old Brandt home may also be glimpsed on nearby property
The River Mill does a brisk business with weddings and other special events Alshythough many have enjoyed this
The San Joaquin Historian
beautiful facility few may know of its interesting historical background On August 8 1980 the Historical Resources Commission made the site a California landmark based on its being the largest and oldest standing chicory processing plant of its time The structure was built to last with foot-thick walls towering over 20 feet high The redbrick buildshyings design is a rectangular box of some 200-feet long by 100-feet wide It has plain straight walls with pilasters at intervals for vertical reinforcement There are stepped parapets at the roof edges Details can be easily seen of the Flemish bond used by the professional masons of the day (Dart p A8)
Chicory-A Beverage ofChoice
Unless you have sipped chicory coffee with your beignet (a fried puff pastry rolled in powdered sugar) at Cate du Monde on Jackson Square in New Orshyleans you may be unfamiliar with this savory rich beverage Chicory was thought to aid digestion and regularity and has been used for centuries in Europe for medicinal purposes Herbalshyists as early as 1800 imagined its curative properties In the nineteenth century chicory was in much demand and after processing was used to blend with coffee grounds Chicory was used especially during the Civil War when coffee was scarce Later it was popu-
Page 2
lar not so much as an extender but as an enhancement When kiln dried roasted and ground chicory becomes coffees natural partner enhancing the coffees flavor and body
Chicory (not to be confused with the chicory weed commonly found growing on Americas highways) is the root of the endive plant Chicory or succory is a native plant of Great Britain where it grows wild and in great profusion but was not cultivated to any extent It was however carefully cultivated in Belgium France Holland and Germany There many thousands of acres are devoted to chicory and tons of the raw material were exported to the United States Chicory belongs to the genus Chicorium
have little in common with coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876) It is not of the same nature as coffee and does not contain the slightshyest trace of coffees essential oil or caffeine Its action on the system is the opposite of coffee and instead of being a stimulant and irritant chicory is a sedative tonic diuretic and astringentI (Weekly Mail June 41892) Chicory is mixed with coffee at the average rate of about one-half pound of root to one pound of coffee Consumers report that it adds much to the flavor of coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Oct 26 1877) Its addition to coffee inshycreases the bitterness but gives greater body and a brighter color to the liquid When added to coffee to stretch it it
Bin with dried chicory root and the ground product Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
intybus the same botanical family as the dandelion The shape of the leaves of the plant look almost exactly like a dandelion but the leaves of the chicory are much the larger courser and darker colored Endive is winter lettuce that has a carrot-like root It has the apshypearance of a parsnip root being white in color and having a bitter flavor (Brandt p 28 Weekly Mail 1892)
In newspaper articles of the day chicory was described as not unpleasant to the taste although the chemical properties
cuts down the caffeine for the drinkerI (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Chicory as a San Joaquin County Industry
With the popularity of the chicoried brew the knowledge of immigrating Germans about the plant and the rich fertile soils of the San Joaquin River reshygion the door was open for a new industry in San Joaquin County The domestic chicory had an advantage of being more economical than the Ger-
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man import because of import taxes and transportation In the 1870s there were large manufacshyturing establishments in Europe with two hundred manufactories in Germany alone In this country chicory was raised quite extensively on Long Island in New Jersey and in some of the Western States The soil best adapted was a sandy loam (Stockton Daily Inshydependent Oct 26 1877) When chicory was introduced to California it was said to grow to enormous size compared to the European product (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Of the minor crops that received susshytained attention in the Delta in the early years chicory was the most highly localshyized A small acreage was raised downstream from Sacramento and Washington (West Sacramento) beshytween 1860 and 1880 Between 1872 and World War I a larger acreage was raised on mineral soils on Roberts Isshyland The southern crop area was located within a few miles of a mill (Bachman amp
SAN Y)AOUIBrandt) located on the right bank of the San Joaquin about eight miles southwest of Stockton (Thompson p 371)
Chicory processing had existed in the general vicinity before Brandt and Bachman estabshylished their business Raab Meine and Co had a factory in 1871 but it burned in October of the same year (Stockton Daily Indeshypendent Oct 26 1871) They again prepared to establish a chicory manufacturing operation on the San
facturing operation on the San Joaquin River in February of 1872 and had an active operation by the summer of 1872 that lasted until around 1878 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 Sept 21 1872)
The Stockton Daily Independent of July 3 1878 notes that a new chicory facshytory has recently been built on Brandts ranch on the river west of French Camp and the old factory has been removed to Martin Otts place a mile or two furshyther up From these active preparations for business we judge that the industry of making chicory is expanding and exshytending (Also Horton p 17)
In the 1870s when all of the production was to the east of the river between 200 and 500 acres were harvested In 1892 the San Joaquin County chicory industry was considered the largest of its kind in the United States Then known as the California Chicory Works it was located on the right bank of the San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a half miles by wagon road
The area is described as having natural beauty and the most fertile land in the country Approximately several thou-
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sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
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erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
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Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
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Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
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The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
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Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
The San Joaquin Historian
A Publication ofthe San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum
Vol XIV- Number 1 Spring 2000
Editor Daryl Morrison
Design Karen Hope
Published by The San Joaquin County Historical Society Inc
Micke Grove Regional Park PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030 (209) 331-2055 (209) 953-3460
President Helen Tretheway
Vice Presidents
Craig Rasmussen Immediate Past President
Mel Wingett Finance
Christopher Engh Publications
Elise Austin Forbes Secretary
Robert F McMaster Treasurer
Director San Joaquin County Historical Society Michael W Bennett
Cover Ralph Yardley cartoon Courtesy Haggin Musuem
About This Issue
In this issue we learn the background of the charming River Mill The River Mill is a banquet facility located in French Camp in an historic building that was once the Bachman amp Brandt California ChicofJ FactofJ I became aware of this establishment when I had a family event there in 1993 The beautiful grounds and hisshytoric old building can only make one wonder What went on here r I began to do some reading to learn about the California ChicofJ Works and the business partnership ofBachman and Brandt I presented myguests with a oneshypage histofJ of the California ChicofJ Works [I also happened to have a few pounds ofchicofJ coffee in my freezer from visits to New Orleans and served my guests chicofJ coffee For those who are curious chicofJ coffee may be special ordered from Aquarius Coffees in Lincoln Center Stockton or online from Cafe du Monde
httpwwwcafedumondecomcafeshop]
A recent quefJ by a reader as to whether there was more information on the California ChicofJ Works made me realize this stOfJ would be worth developing So dear reader grab a cup a coffee (oiy you probably dont have chicofJ cofshyfee yet) and enjoy
The author Daryl Morrison is Head of HoltshyAtherton Special Collections at the University of the Pacific Library and editor of the San Joaquin Historian
The San Joaquin Historian Page 1
Bachman amp Brandt California Chicory Factory
By Daryl Morrison
The old California Chicory Factory founded in 1873 was owned by Charles HW Brandt and Carl August Bachman (often spelled Bachmann) The factory still exists today as a large red brick building and is now called The River Mill
The facility is owned and was renovated by Jim Silveria and Clint Marshall It operates as a banquet hall and winery in the historic building with the embellishshyment of a beautiful garden To get to the site head south from Stockton on Interstate Five and at French Camp take Matthews Road exit and drive along Manthey Frontage road to Bowman Road Follow Bowman Road west until you reach the San Joaquin River The old Brandt home may also be glimpsed on nearby property
The River Mill does a brisk business with weddings and other special events Alshythough many have enjoyed this
The San Joaquin Historian
beautiful facility few may know of its interesting historical background On August 8 1980 the Historical Resources Commission made the site a California landmark based on its being the largest and oldest standing chicory processing plant of its time The structure was built to last with foot-thick walls towering over 20 feet high The redbrick buildshyings design is a rectangular box of some 200-feet long by 100-feet wide It has plain straight walls with pilasters at intervals for vertical reinforcement There are stepped parapets at the roof edges Details can be easily seen of the Flemish bond used by the professional masons of the day (Dart p A8)
Chicory-A Beverage ofChoice
Unless you have sipped chicory coffee with your beignet (a fried puff pastry rolled in powdered sugar) at Cate du Monde on Jackson Square in New Orshyleans you may be unfamiliar with this savory rich beverage Chicory was thought to aid digestion and regularity and has been used for centuries in Europe for medicinal purposes Herbalshyists as early as 1800 imagined its curative properties In the nineteenth century chicory was in much demand and after processing was used to blend with coffee grounds Chicory was used especially during the Civil War when coffee was scarce Later it was popu-
Page 2
lar not so much as an extender but as an enhancement When kiln dried roasted and ground chicory becomes coffees natural partner enhancing the coffees flavor and body
Chicory (not to be confused with the chicory weed commonly found growing on Americas highways) is the root of the endive plant Chicory or succory is a native plant of Great Britain where it grows wild and in great profusion but was not cultivated to any extent It was however carefully cultivated in Belgium France Holland and Germany There many thousands of acres are devoted to chicory and tons of the raw material were exported to the United States Chicory belongs to the genus Chicorium
have little in common with coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876) It is not of the same nature as coffee and does not contain the slightshyest trace of coffees essential oil or caffeine Its action on the system is the opposite of coffee and instead of being a stimulant and irritant chicory is a sedative tonic diuretic and astringentI (Weekly Mail June 41892) Chicory is mixed with coffee at the average rate of about one-half pound of root to one pound of coffee Consumers report that it adds much to the flavor of coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Oct 26 1877) Its addition to coffee inshycreases the bitterness but gives greater body and a brighter color to the liquid When added to coffee to stretch it it
Bin with dried chicory root and the ground product Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
intybus the same botanical family as the dandelion The shape of the leaves of the plant look almost exactly like a dandelion but the leaves of the chicory are much the larger courser and darker colored Endive is winter lettuce that has a carrot-like root It has the apshypearance of a parsnip root being white in color and having a bitter flavor (Brandt p 28 Weekly Mail 1892)
In newspaper articles of the day chicory was described as not unpleasant to the taste although the chemical properties
cuts down the caffeine for the drinkerI (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Chicory as a San Joaquin County Industry
With the popularity of the chicoried brew the knowledge of immigrating Germans about the plant and the rich fertile soils of the San Joaquin River reshygion the door was open for a new industry in San Joaquin County The domestic chicory had an advantage of being more economical than the Ger-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 3
man import because of import taxes and transportation In the 1870s there were large manufacshyturing establishments in Europe with two hundred manufactories in Germany alone In this country chicory was raised quite extensively on Long Island in New Jersey and in some of the Western States The soil best adapted was a sandy loam (Stockton Daily Inshydependent Oct 26 1877) When chicory was introduced to California it was said to grow to enormous size compared to the European product (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Of the minor crops that received susshytained attention in the Delta in the early years chicory was the most highly localshyized A small acreage was raised downstream from Sacramento and Washington (West Sacramento) beshytween 1860 and 1880 Between 1872 and World War I a larger acreage was raised on mineral soils on Roberts Isshyland The southern crop area was located within a few miles of a mill (Bachman amp
SAN Y)AOUIBrandt) located on the right bank of the San Joaquin about eight miles southwest of Stockton (Thompson p 371)
Chicory processing had existed in the general vicinity before Brandt and Bachman estabshylished their business Raab Meine and Co had a factory in 1871 but it burned in October of the same year (Stockton Daily Indeshypendent Oct 26 1871) They again prepared to establish a chicory manufacturing operation on the San
facturing operation on the San Joaquin River in February of 1872 and had an active operation by the summer of 1872 that lasted until around 1878 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 Sept 21 1872)
The Stockton Daily Independent of July 3 1878 notes that a new chicory facshytory has recently been built on Brandts ranch on the river west of French Camp and the old factory has been removed to Martin Otts place a mile or two furshyther up From these active preparations for business we judge that the industry of making chicory is expanding and exshytending (Also Horton p 17)
In the 1870s when all of the production was to the east of the river between 200 and 500 acres were harvested In 1892 the San Joaquin County chicory industry was considered the largest of its kind in the United States Then known as the California Chicory Works it was located on the right bank of the San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a half miles by wagon road
The area is described as having natural beauty and the most fertile land in the country Approximately several thou-
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sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
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money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
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erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
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age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
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I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
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Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
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Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
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the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
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The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
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Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
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Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
Bachman amp Brandt California Chicory Factory
By Daryl Morrison
The old California Chicory Factory founded in 1873 was owned by Charles HW Brandt and Carl August Bachman (often spelled Bachmann) The factory still exists today as a large red brick building and is now called The River Mill
The facility is owned and was renovated by Jim Silveria and Clint Marshall It operates as a banquet hall and winery in the historic building with the embellishshyment of a beautiful garden To get to the site head south from Stockton on Interstate Five and at French Camp take Matthews Road exit and drive along Manthey Frontage road to Bowman Road Follow Bowman Road west until you reach the San Joaquin River The old Brandt home may also be glimpsed on nearby property
The River Mill does a brisk business with weddings and other special events Alshythough many have enjoyed this
The San Joaquin Historian
beautiful facility few may know of its interesting historical background On August 8 1980 the Historical Resources Commission made the site a California landmark based on its being the largest and oldest standing chicory processing plant of its time The structure was built to last with foot-thick walls towering over 20 feet high The redbrick buildshyings design is a rectangular box of some 200-feet long by 100-feet wide It has plain straight walls with pilasters at intervals for vertical reinforcement There are stepped parapets at the roof edges Details can be easily seen of the Flemish bond used by the professional masons of the day (Dart p A8)
Chicory-A Beverage ofChoice
Unless you have sipped chicory coffee with your beignet (a fried puff pastry rolled in powdered sugar) at Cate du Monde on Jackson Square in New Orshyleans you may be unfamiliar with this savory rich beverage Chicory was thought to aid digestion and regularity and has been used for centuries in Europe for medicinal purposes Herbalshyists as early as 1800 imagined its curative properties In the nineteenth century chicory was in much demand and after processing was used to blend with coffee grounds Chicory was used especially during the Civil War when coffee was scarce Later it was popu-
Page 2
lar not so much as an extender but as an enhancement When kiln dried roasted and ground chicory becomes coffees natural partner enhancing the coffees flavor and body
Chicory (not to be confused with the chicory weed commonly found growing on Americas highways) is the root of the endive plant Chicory or succory is a native plant of Great Britain where it grows wild and in great profusion but was not cultivated to any extent It was however carefully cultivated in Belgium France Holland and Germany There many thousands of acres are devoted to chicory and tons of the raw material were exported to the United States Chicory belongs to the genus Chicorium
have little in common with coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876) It is not of the same nature as coffee and does not contain the slightshyest trace of coffees essential oil or caffeine Its action on the system is the opposite of coffee and instead of being a stimulant and irritant chicory is a sedative tonic diuretic and astringentI (Weekly Mail June 41892) Chicory is mixed with coffee at the average rate of about one-half pound of root to one pound of coffee Consumers report that it adds much to the flavor of coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Oct 26 1877) Its addition to coffee inshycreases the bitterness but gives greater body and a brighter color to the liquid When added to coffee to stretch it it
Bin with dried chicory root and the ground product Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
intybus the same botanical family as the dandelion The shape of the leaves of the plant look almost exactly like a dandelion but the leaves of the chicory are much the larger courser and darker colored Endive is winter lettuce that has a carrot-like root It has the apshypearance of a parsnip root being white in color and having a bitter flavor (Brandt p 28 Weekly Mail 1892)
In newspaper articles of the day chicory was described as not unpleasant to the taste although the chemical properties
cuts down the caffeine for the drinkerI (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Chicory as a San Joaquin County Industry
With the popularity of the chicoried brew the knowledge of immigrating Germans about the plant and the rich fertile soils of the San Joaquin River reshygion the door was open for a new industry in San Joaquin County The domestic chicory had an advantage of being more economical than the Ger-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 3
man import because of import taxes and transportation In the 1870s there were large manufacshyturing establishments in Europe with two hundred manufactories in Germany alone In this country chicory was raised quite extensively on Long Island in New Jersey and in some of the Western States The soil best adapted was a sandy loam (Stockton Daily Inshydependent Oct 26 1877) When chicory was introduced to California it was said to grow to enormous size compared to the European product (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Of the minor crops that received susshytained attention in the Delta in the early years chicory was the most highly localshyized A small acreage was raised downstream from Sacramento and Washington (West Sacramento) beshytween 1860 and 1880 Between 1872 and World War I a larger acreage was raised on mineral soils on Roberts Isshyland The southern crop area was located within a few miles of a mill (Bachman amp
SAN Y)AOUIBrandt) located on the right bank of the San Joaquin about eight miles southwest of Stockton (Thompson p 371)
Chicory processing had existed in the general vicinity before Brandt and Bachman estabshylished their business Raab Meine and Co had a factory in 1871 but it burned in October of the same year (Stockton Daily Indeshypendent Oct 26 1871) They again prepared to establish a chicory manufacturing operation on the San
facturing operation on the San Joaquin River in February of 1872 and had an active operation by the summer of 1872 that lasted until around 1878 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 Sept 21 1872)
The Stockton Daily Independent of July 3 1878 notes that a new chicory facshytory has recently been built on Brandts ranch on the river west of French Camp and the old factory has been removed to Martin Otts place a mile or two furshyther up From these active preparations for business we judge that the industry of making chicory is expanding and exshytending (Also Horton p 17)
In the 1870s when all of the production was to the east of the river between 200 and 500 acres were harvested In 1892 the San Joaquin County chicory industry was considered the largest of its kind in the United States Then known as the California Chicory Works it was located on the right bank of the San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a half miles by wagon road
The area is described as having natural beauty and the most fertile land in the country Approximately several thou-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 4
sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
The San Joaquin Historian Page 6
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
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Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
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Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
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Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
lar not so much as an extender but as an enhancement When kiln dried roasted and ground chicory becomes coffees natural partner enhancing the coffees flavor and body
Chicory (not to be confused with the chicory weed commonly found growing on Americas highways) is the root of the endive plant Chicory or succory is a native plant of Great Britain where it grows wild and in great profusion but was not cultivated to any extent It was however carefully cultivated in Belgium France Holland and Germany There many thousands of acres are devoted to chicory and tons of the raw material were exported to the United States Chicory belongs to the genus Chicorium
have little in common with coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876) It is not of the same nature as coffee and does not contain the slightshyest trace of coffees essential oil or caffeine Its action on the system is the opposite of coffee and instead of being a stimulant and irritant chicory is a sedative tonic diuretic and astringentI (Weekly Mail June 41892) Chicory is mixed with coffee at the average rate of about one-half pound of root to one pound of coffee Consumers report that it adds much to the flavor of coffeeI (Stockton Daily Independent Oct 26 1877) Its addition to coffee inshycreases the bitterness but gives greater body and a brighter color to the liquid When added to coffee to stretch it it
Bin with dried chicory root and the ground product Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
intybus the same botanical family as the dandelion The shape of the leaves of the plant look almost exactly like a dandelion but the leaves of the chicory are much the larger courser and darker colored Endive is winter lettuce that has a carrot-like root It has the apshypearance of a parsnip root being white in color and having a bitter flavor (Brandt p 28 Weekly Mail 1892)
In newspaper articles of the day chicory was described as not unpleasant to the taste although the chemical properties
cuts down the caffeine for the drinkerI (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Chicory as a San Joaquin County Industry
With the popularity of the chicoried brew the knowledge of immigrating Germans about the plant and the rich fertile soils of the San Joaquin River reshygion the door was open for a new industry in San Joaquin County The domestic chicory had an advantage of being more economical than the Ger-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 3
man import because of import taxes and transportation In the 1870s there were large manufacshyturing establishments in Europe with two hundred manufactories in Germany alone In this country chicory was raised quite extensively on Long Island in New Jersey and in some of the Western States The soil best adapted was a sandy loam (Stockton Daily Inshydependent Oct 26 1877) When chicory was introduced to California it was said to grow to enormous size compared to the European product (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Of the minor crops that received susshytained attention in the Delta in the early years chicory was the most highly localshyized A small acreage was raised downstream from Sacramento and Washington (West Sacramento) beshytween 1860 and 1880 Between 1872 and World War I a larger acreage was raised on mineral soils on Roberts Isshyland The southern crop area was located within a few miles of a mill (Bachman amp
SAN Y)AOUIBrandt) located on the right bank of the San Joaquin about eight miles southwest of Stockton (Thompson p 371)
Chicory processing had existed in the general vicinity before Brandt and Bachman estabshylished their business Raab Meine and Co had a factory in 1871 but it burned in October of the same year (Stockton Daily Indeshypendent Oct 26 1871) They again prepared to establish a chicory manufacturing operation on the San
facturing operation on the San Joaquin River in February of 1872 and had an active operation by the summer of 1872 that lasted until around 1878 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 Sept 21 1872)
The Stockton Daily Independent of July 3 1878 notes that a new chicory facshytory has recently been built on Brandts ranch on the river west of French Camp and the old factory has been removed to Martin Otts place a mile or two furshyther up From these active preparations for business we judge that the industry of making chicory is expanding and exshytending (Also Horton p 17)
In the 1870s when all of the production was to the east of the river between 200 and 500 acres were harvested In 1892 the San Joaquin County chicory industry was considered the largest of its kind in the United States Then known as the California Chicory Works it was located on the right bank of the San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a half miles by wagon road
The area is described as having natural beauty and the most fertile land in the country Approximately several thou-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 4
sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
The San Joaquin Historian Page 6
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
man import because of import taxes and transportation In the 1870s there were large manufacshyturing establishments in Europe with two hundred manufactories in Germany alone In this country chicory was raised quite extensively on Long Island in New Jersey and in some of the Western States The soil best adapted was a sandy loam (Stockton Daily Inshydependent Oct 26 1877) When chicory was introduced to California it was said to grow to enormous size compared to the European product (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Of the minor crops that received susshytained attention in the Delta in the early years chicory was the most highly localshyized A small acreage was raised downstream from Sacramento and Washington (West Sacramento) beshytween 1860 and 1880 Between 1872 and World War I a larger acreage was raised on mineral soils on Roberts Isshyland The southern crop area was located within a few miles of a mill (Bachman amp
SAN Y)AOUIBrandt) located on the right bank of the San Joaquin about eight miles southwest of Stockton (Thompson p 371)
Chicory processing had existed in the general vicinity before Brandt and Bachman estabshylished their business Raab Meine and Co had a factory in 1871 but it burned in October of the same year (Stockton Daily Indeshypendent Oct 26 1871) They again prepared to establish a chicory manufacturing operation on the San
facturing operation on the San Joaquin River in February of 1872 and had an active operation by the summer of 1872 that lasted until around 1878 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 Sept 21 1872)
The Stockton Daily Independent of July 3 1878 notes that a new chicory facshytory has recently been built on Brandts ranch on the river west of French Camp and the old factory has been removed to Martin Otts place a mile or two furshyther up From these active preparations for business we judge that the industry of making chicory is expanding and exshytending (Also Horton p 17)
In the 1870s when all of the production was to the east of the river between 200 and 500 acres were harvested In 1892 the San Joaquin County chicory industry was considered the largest of its kind in the United States Then known as the California Chicory Works it was located on the right bank of the San Joaquin River about thirteen miles
Postcard Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
from Stockton by water and eight and a half miles by wagon road
The area is described as having natural beauty and the most fertile land in the country Approximately several thou-
The San Joaquin Historian Page 4
sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
The San Joaquin Historian Page 6
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
sand acres of the land in the vicinity is in chicory root although the manufacshyturers themselves have only six hundred and fifty (The Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In the early 1900s up to 1200 acres were harvested Cultivation virtushyally stopped before World War I the result of a disappearing market among the San Francisco coffee roasters forshyeign competition and the 1911 flood Vegetables and alfalfa have replaced it (Thompson pp371-372)
The Partners
The history of the California Chicory Factory is the story of two men Charles H W Brandt and Carl August Bachman both old pioneers who made their forshytunes by their own efforts and by availing themselves of the natural adshyvantages of California They worked at many different kinds of business before starting the manufacture of chicory in 1872 In that year the beginning was a modest one and early on all the work was done in one small frame structure Both liked the country and were detershymined to succeed and make homes for themselves It was hard work but each year saw some addition to their property and the farmers in the area began to also cultivate the root so that by 1892 nearly 300 were reported to putting in a large part of the year at that work and finding it profitable (Weekly Mail June 4 1892)
Charles H W Brandt
Charles H W Brandt the founder of the California Chicory Works was born in Hanover Germany in 1840 He was the son of Frederick and Phillipena Brandt By the time Charles was fifteen years of age he began to chafe under the reshystraints in his native country and set out for America Setting sail from the port
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles HW Brandt
of Bremen in 1855 he reached Galvesshyton Texas after a comparatively uneventful voyage of three months and nine days He settled in Washington County Texas where he learned the trade of carpenter and worked at that trade until 1859 He then went to Cherokee New Grenada where he beshycame involved in the butchering trade He traveled in Central and South Amershyica and after two years returned to the United States arriving in San Francisco in 1861 He then worked as a cabinetshymaker for three years Brandt came to San Joaquin County in 1864 saved his money and acquired land on the banks of the San Joaquin River near the setshytlement of French Camp in Castoria Township He engaged in the fruit and vegetable business (Gilbert p 103 Guinn p 206-Note Guinn has Brandt coming to the County in 1862)
In 1867 Brandt purchased 133 acres and continued to add to it For the next few years Brandt raised row-crops on his small farm He tested different crops to see which would bring the most
Page 5
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
The San Joaquin Historian Page 6
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
money He was familiar with chicory which was imported fully processed from Germany There was little domesshytic chicory Brandt recognized that the mineral soil of the reclaimed tule land was ideal for the growing of chicory and the long growing season promised good crops (Dart p A8) In 1870 Brandt erected a two and a half story house with thirteen rooms costing $2500 At about this time he married Therese Bachman the daughter of his neighbor Carl Bachman They married in French Camp on September 18 1870 Therese was also a native German born in May 15 1853 Mr and Mrs Brandt were to become the parents of nine children (Charles A Frederick c Aushygustus W Louis Emil A Theresa Dorothy Mildred and Oscar) (Guinn p206)
In 1872 Brandt concentrated his attenshytion upon the raising and manufacture of chicory for commercial uses beginshyning at first in an experimental way After the first few years the harvest yielded 10 to 15 tons per acre and was sold to San Francisco processors for $8
to $10 per ton Brandt decided to begin processing the chicory root himself into a near finished product (Dart p A8)
He erected a chicory factory in 1872 at a cost of $3700 Brandts factory was a wood frame structure to house the mashychinery for the operation To the north side of the factory he had wooden dryshying platforms where the white carrotshylike roots were cut into two-to-three pieces and crushed in the grinders The root cubes were ground to about the consistency of course ground coffee There was a landing on the San Joaquin River about twenty-five feet from the factory (Gilbert p 103) The following year the factory shipped 328 barrels of processed chicory The chicory was shipped to market on the steamer Hattie Pickett
Brandt ran the chicory factory with Marshytin Ott as manager and August and Charles Dangers as employees (Stockshyton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877) Brandt sold his original building in 1877 to Ott and became partners with is fashyther-in-Iaw CA Bachman They
Chicory Factory near Stockton California The large building is the roasting and grinding building with storage buildings for the raw product behind CA 1888 Courtesy of the Haggin Museum
The San Joaquin Historian Page 6
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
erected a larger building 50 x 48 feet at a cost of $7500 On September 16 1878 they celebrated the opening of this second chicory factory with 125 friends and well wishers present (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
With the establishment of the partnershyship and building of the larger factory the firm became Bachman amp Brandts California Chicory Factory and the busishyness grew expansively In 1909 Guinn noted that the factory is located eight miles from Stockton on the San Joaquin River at Brandts Bridge which was named in honor of Mr Brandt In addishytion to carrying on the manufacturing business Brandt owns three ranches upon which he carries on general stockshyraising and other agricultural purSUits (Guinn p 206)
CarlAugust Bachman
The story of the older partner Carl Aushygust Bachman (or Bachmann) is similar to Brandts He was born in Prussia in 1827 His parents were Henry and Teresa (Kunz) Bachman Bachman reshyceived his education in his native town of Magdeburg and after completing an apprenticeship worked in the upholstershying trade He traveled throughout Europe He then entered the military service joining the Twelfth Hussar Regishyment and took part in the wars of Baden and Holstein Bachman married Dora Echler in 1851 in Germany Leavshying the army in 1853 Bachman immigrated to New York then going to St Anthonls Falls Minnesota where he established a furniture factory In 1859 he gave up his business and embarked on a steamer for California crossing the Isthmus He arrived in San Francisco on the 24th of October 1859 He remained in San Francisco until the spring of 1860 when he went to north as a
The San Joaquin Historian
miner He was unsuccessful and reshyturned to San Francisco where he obtained employment in a carpet store In 1866 he and his family came to San Joaquin County and purchased a ranch of 327 acres on the San Joaquin River and commenced farming Having some knowledge of the chicory business a crop grown in Prussia he thought chicshyory would prove profitable He cultivated 300 acres of which 25 were chicory and the rest grain He had 500 trees of apples peaches and pears and 25 head of horses and some milk cows The Bachmans erected a residence in 1866 on the San Joaquin River just beshylow that of Mr Brandts The house was added on to and in 1879 was described as being two stories with nine rooms (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525 Gilbert p 102) The Bachmans had one daughter Theresa The union of Brandt and Theresa Bachshyman brought the families together not only as relatives but partners
A New Factory and Prosperous Partnership
When the two men joined together the chicory factory prospered and the procshyessed tonnage increased greatly The Daily Evening Herald Stockton Sepshytember 16 1878 noted that Bachman amp Brandt celebrated the opening of their chicory factory The buildings are new and substantial A 15 horsepower enshygine furnishes the power The capacity of the factory is twelve tons a day and it ranks as one of the largest in the State The chicory is sold in San Francisco at about 6 cents per pound It comes into competition with German chicory which is sold at about 7 12 cents per pound and is said to be superior in quality to the German chicory The new brick building housed the roasting room grinding room drying room a cooper-
Page 7
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
age a tank house engine room coal storage house and a storage wareshyhouse (Dart p A8)
It was reported that little chicory was then grown outside of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties It cost about $5 a ton to raise the roots including seed cultivation digging and hauling while the prepared chicory was worth from $125 to $250 a ton in the market The net profit per acre was as high as $300 to $500 (Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877)
The capacity of the new factory was two tons per ten hour run during the season (Gilbert) The processed product was sold in San Francisco at six cents per pound to manufacturers of coffee The average yield per acre was from ten to twelve tons Bachman and Brandt planned at that time to expand their opshyerations by the cultivation of between three and four hundred acres (Daily Evening Herald Sept 16 1878)
By 1883 Bachman amp Brandt was deshyscribed as the only operating chicory factory in the State of Calishyfornia Until this time most of the profit had gone into mac~linshy
barrels of processed chicory The facshytory processed about 600 acres of planted chicory 300 of which was planted by Bachman amp Brandt (Daily Independent August 18 1883)
In 1884 Mr Bachman was in Europe and while there selected improved mashychinery for his factory (Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County p 525) Bachman amp Brandt continued profitably and in 1885 a new factory was built This factory was made out of molded and wirecut biick purchased from local brick factories It had iron doors and iron window bars and is the building that still stands in good condition today Fourteen men were employed at the factory and the capacity was five tons a day of processed chicory The average output was five hundred tons a year
In 1890 they had the largest chicory factory in the United States with a trade extending through the Pacific Coast and Central States In 1889 they
harvested 6000 tons of roots producing oneshyfourth that weight of the finshyished product ready for market (Illustrated Hisshytory ofSan Joaquin County p 525) By 1900 the California Chicory Works was a flourishing business center in which sevenshyteen men were
Workers pushing the dried roots to the roasting and grinding rooms employedfactory Courtesy ofthe Haggin Museum (Guinn p 205)
ery but from 1883 on their investments began to pay The chicory factory was expected to turn out some six thousand
The San Joaquin Historian
Charles Brandt was the superintendent of the factory operations while CA
Page 8
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
I-ARVESTlf6 CHICORY ON UCAIMED UNO souT- VIE5T OF gtTOCKTOl ACgtOUT IBl5
Bachman was the business manager and sales manshyager (Gilbert p280)
The Agricultural and ManufacturshyingProcess
The manufacturing of the chicory root Yardley Cartoon Courtesy ofHaggin Museum
into a saleable product was a relatively woody and would be killed altogether simple process and done entirely with- This was very arduous labor Brandt out the use of chemicals The buildings notes that The help employed were and machinery used for the manufactur- Japanese Chinese and Hindus [Sikhs] ing was quite extensive and represented The Italians worked their own fields It a large amount of capital Everything is estimated that one man must be em-about the ranch and grounds was de- ployed for every one and a half acres scribed as being in perfect order The roots grow very fast and by the
time they are ready to be pulled avershyaged about two or three pounds IIPlanting The tops often obtained a growth of several feet in height (Brandt andIn a pamphlet San Joaquin County For Weekly Ma~ June 4 1892)the Farmer Fe Brandt Brandts son
reported on chicory Chicory seed was Harvestingimported from Germany at a cost of $1
per pound Before planting the land was Harvesting began in August and continshyput into sub-irrigation He notes Chicshyued through October A specially ory will grow in about the same type of designed plow was used to stir the soil soil as that required for sugar beets A and pull the roots from the ground Thesandy loam is best It must be soil that roots could then be picked up or pulled will not bake After the seed sprouts by the Chinese laborers1I The plant the plants are
tops were thinned 1I cut off and the roots The seed was thrown invery fine and heapswas drilled in (Stocktonlike onion seed Daily Indeshyin rows about penden~twelve inches Nov 9apart It was 1876planted in FebshyFeb12ruary or March 1877Weeds were Asian laborers pulling up chicory roots Weeklykept out by Courtesy ofthe Haggtn Museum Mail Junecultivation or the plants would become
4 1892 Brandt)
The San Joaquin Historian Page 9
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
Cutting Roasting and Grinding
The roots were then hauled to the facshytory or mill where they were taken to the cutting machine and chopped into pieces about an inch square and spread thinly over a large wooden platform for sun-drying The drying usually took from three to five days The roots when dry very closely resembled pieces of bone On different sides of the platform were storehouses for the unroasted root The dried roots were sometimes stored away until demanded by the trade
The principal building erected in 1885 was where the roasting and grinding was done It was two stories high about 100 feet long and built of brick The lower floor contained the furnaces and the upper floor was where the grinding took place The new drying kiln or roasting furnace was one of the finest in the country (With the new kiln sun drying was probably minimized) Dampshyers and flues made it possible to regulate the heat
Roasting required great care as the end product could be ruined The roasting temperature must just reach a certain point a little above or below would ruin
the root The roasting was done in a furnace containing three hollow drums which kept revolving by steam power using a coke fire The drums were arshyranged on a shaft that could be drawn from the furnace for the purpose of fillshying or emptying Each drum was capable of containing 200 pounds of the dried root which after roasting lost about a quarter of its weight Green root placed in the kiln was ready for the grinders in nine hours
When the root came from the roaster it was spread on the floor of the roasting room afterwards it was taken to the floor above to the grinders and bolters which worked similarly to the manufacshyturing of flour The roots were put through a mill and ground to a course powder like ground coffee One of the grinders was a very expensive machine imported from Germany To protect the rollers from any foreign metallic subshystance falling in the root made a pass over a series of magnetic plates
The product was now practically finshyished as far as the flavor was concerned but it was an unpleasing color of yellowish brown Through a secret process of the manufacturer it was changed to a rich chocolate color The root was now ready for the conshysumer
In 1892 an average of fourteen men was employed and the works had a cashypacity of five tons of the finished article a day The average output of the works was about 500 tons a year In the process of drying and roasting the chicshyory lost about one-third of its weight so that ten pounds of the roots would yield about three pounds of chicory (Manushyfacturing process described in Stockton Daily Independent Feb 12 1877 Weekly Mail June 4 1892 and Brandt)
TIlE ROtSTIsa FURUC1
The San Joaquin Historian Page 10
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
Shipping
From the Works the product was shipped in bulk in large sacks or barrels to the wholesale dealer who put it into packaging and shipped it to all parts of the world (Stockton Daily Independent Nov 91876 Weekly Mail June 4 1892) In 1882 the partners purchased a steam launch named The Dora (The steamer was built in Stockton with the exception of the boiler The boat had a speed of about sixteen miles an hour) The Dora carried the product from the factory to Stockton and San Francisco Transportshying by horse-drawn wagon to Stockton was a full days trip (Weekly Mail June 4 1892 Dart)
The End ofan Era
At the death of Mr Bachman on Noshyvember 181903 the business was carried on under the sole name of Brandts California Chicory Factory Mrs Brandt (Theresa Bachman Brandt) died July 28 1904 (Guinn p 206 Irvine vol II p 898)
The final blow came in 1906 with the Food and Drug Act which prohibited the mixing of coffee and chicory to be sold under the name of coffee even if called a coffee blend Chicory had to be packshyaged separately and sold as chicory since coffee couldnt be adulterated with anything other than another type of cofshyfee (Dart)
When Brandts son Frederick C Brandt wrote his description of the chicory in-
Thompson and West illustration of the California Chicory Factory Castoria Township 1879
dustry there were about five such The tariff reform of 1895 foreshadowed concerns in the United States F C doom for the domestic chicory when Brandt reported that The land planted imported raw material ceased to be to chicory was flooded two years in sucshytaxed Importers now brought in sliced cession and the growers became dried and unroasted chicory as raw mashy discouraged so that for the last three terial which any coffee processor could years no chicory has been produced finish off by roasting and grinding Production depends entirely upon the
encouragement given the growers by Brandts factory which contracts with
The San Joaquin Historian Page 11
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
the farmers to buy their crop at so much 10 1924 (Stockton Evening Record per ton (Brandt) Dec 11 1924)
Brandt deshyscribed the market for chicory as very limited and easily flooded and it is only safe to plant a small acreage About one thousand acres will supply the Pacific Coast demand He stated that It is probable that the chicory facshy The River Mill Banquet Room showing old factory walls
Susan Platt-Case photographer- Signature Photography tory located here will begin to manufacture the product again and thus encourage the planting of a limited area (Brandt)
At the time the price paid the grower for the green chicory roots was usually $10 to $12 per ton at the factory The yield was from fifteen to twenty tons per acre The cost of production including the delivery of the crop to the factory was always figured at $50 per acre alshythough it might be a little greater or less according to the yield The rental for the land was usually about $15 per acre If the grower received fifteen tons to the acre and sold at $10 per ton he got $150 per acre and his costs were about $70 per acre leaving a profit of $80 per acre (Brandt)
Some time after the 1911 floods Brandts California Chicory Works quit business Charles Brandt was seventyshytwo in 1911 and probably had retired Charles Brandt resided on Union Island at the time of his death on December
Although the factory building was never used again for chicory processing it has not been abandoned all the time Until shut down by revenue agents the facshytory was used for the production of illegal alcohol during Prohibition During World War II Sharpe Army Depot used it to store groceries For a time a flea market was held in the building (Dart) Restored and renovated it now opershyates successfully as The River Mill with a special ambiance that hearkens back to the days of the Bachman amp Brandt Calishyfornia Chicory Factory
The San Joaquin Historian Page 12
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
The River Mill Susan Platt-case photographet Signature Photography
The San Joaquin Historian Page 13
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
Bibliography
Brandt FC Chicory in San Joaquin County California For the Farmer nd p28-29
Dart Bill Landmark Chicory Factory Historical Site in The Manteca News Wednesday October 8 1980 p A8
Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
Guinn JM and George H Tinkham History of the State ofCalifornia and Biographical Record ofSan Joaquin County Vol II Los Angeles CA Hisshytoric Record Co 1909
Horton Earl A Doug French Camp Land of the Beaver History Thesis Stockton University of the Pacific 1978
An Illustrated History ofSan Joaquin County California Chicago The Lewis Publishing Co 1890
Irvine Leigh H A History ofthe New California Its Resources and People Vol II New York The Lewis Pub Co 1905
[Student Paper author and title unshyknown] (excerpt in River Mill file)
Thompson John Settlement Geograshyphy ofthe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta California PhD Dissertation Geography Stanford University 1957
Stockton Newspaper Articles (listed chronologically)
Chicory Factory Destroyed Stockton Daily Independent October 9 1871 p 3 col1 A Chicory Manufactory Stockton Daily Independent Feb 10 1872 p 3 col1 The Chicory Factory Stockton Daily Independent Sept 21 1872 p 3 col 1 Chiccory [sic] Factory Stockton Daily Independent Jan 31 1873 p3 col1 Chiccory Stockton Daily Independent Nov 9 1876 p 3 col2 Chiccory Culture Stockton Daily Indeshypendent February 12 1877 p 3 col 1 Chiccory Stockton DaIlY Independent Oct 26 1877 p 3 col3 Chiccory Factory Stockton Daily Indeshypendent July 3 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Factory Daily Evening Herald Stockton Ca Sept 16 1878 p 3 col2 The Chiccory Industry Daily Evening Herald Dec 5 1878 p 3 col1 Chiccory Factory San Joaquin County Boasts of the Only-One in the State Daily Independent (Stockton Ca) Aushygust 18 1883 p3 col3 The Chicory Factory the County has the Largest One in America The Weekly Mail(Stockton Ca) June 4 1892 p 8 no2 Death of Carl August Bachmann Stockton Daily Independent Nov 19 1903 p 3 col1 Charles Brandt Is Laid at Rest Stockshyton Evening Record December 11 1924 section 2 p 19 Gilbert FT History ofSan Joaquin County Oakland Cal Thompson and West 1879 (Reproduction of Thompson and Wests History ofSan Joaquin County California Berkeley California Howell-North Books 1968) p 280
The San Joaquin Historian Page 14
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
Mark your calendar for September 23 2000
CENTURY BUSINESS DINNER
Honoring
ON LOCK SAM RESTAURANT
Address correction requested
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum PO Box 30 Lodi CA 95241-0030
Non-Profit Organization
POSTAGE PAID
Penn it No 48 Lodi CA 95241
