Shasta County
Biographies
ARCHIBALD LEE BURGER
1879‑‑1952
MARTHA MAGDALANE RICHTER BURGER
1879‑‑1970
Archibald (Artie) Lee Burger was born December 7, 1879 to Bascom Lee and Sarah Allen Thompson Stonebarger in Warren County, Missouri. His father changed the name in 1886, when he brought his family to Shasta County.
Martha Magdalane Richter was the daughter of Charles (Carl) Gottleib Richter from Saxony and Augusta Emilie Young (Jung) from Prussia. She was born September 12, 1879 in Le Sueur County, Minnesota, and lived there until her father moved the family to Igo in 1886.
Since Artie and Martha were seven years old when they arrived in Shasta County, they must have met at school. July 1, 1901 they were married and started to raise their children:
Carl Bascom b. 1902, Igo d. 1991 m. Erma Gertrude Kendall
Otto Lee b. 1904, S.F. d. 1992, Ore. m. Annie Florence Smith
Allen Augusta b. 1905, S.F. d. Feb.19, 1990 m. Alvin Ebenezer Spiers
m. Robert Scott
m. James Doughty
m. Robert. Eugene Bender
Leola Martha b. 1908, S.F. d. 1973 m. George Vernon Fowler
m. Frank Sheperson
Florence Ellen b. 1910, Igo d. 1931
Chrystal Bessie b. 1910, Igo d. 2002 m. Homer Eslie Williams
Arnold William b. 1912, Ono d. 2001 m. Anita Williams
m. Maree Alice Barker
George Woodrow b. 1919, Igo d. 1998 m. Kathryn Kirschenmann
m. Dell Louise Myers
Esther Inez
Emily Louise
Alfred Eugene b. 1923 d. 1927
Undoubtedly the most exciting event in their married lives was the 1906 S.F. Earthquake; the family were moved back to Shasta County but Artie returned to help rebuild the City. During this time he fell and lost the sight of one eye. He remained a fine carpenter and continued that work
as well as ranching. He died January 9, 1952 and was buried in Igo.
Martha spent her later years caring for foster children and grandchildren when she stayed with her various children. She died May 20, 1970 in Redding and was buried with her husband in Igo.
Source: Shasta Historical Society - Feb 2000
HIRAM LEONARD NILES ISABELL FINE NILES
1850 ‑‑1928 1861 ‑‑1949
HIRAM LEONARD NILES was born in Iowa to Stephen and Nancy Niles on November 14, 1850. At the time of his birth he had an older brother Anamias and sister Lucinda. There were several younger siblings. When Hiram was about nine years old the family moved to Idaho. They came from Iowa to California by wagon and traveled up through Big Valley in Lassen County to
Boise, Idaho, where his father had a homestead. In 1870 Hiram was living with his mother and younger siblings in Sonoma County. Stephen and Anamias were living in Tulare County at this time. The family may have come to California when their younger brother Lee was shot and killed in a saloon, because he was a "Blue Bellied Yankee."
ISABELL FINE NILES was born in Tulare County to Smith H. and Laurahannah Querles Fine on July 17, 1861. She had ten brothers and sisters. The Querles and Fine families had moved to Tulare County after the Civil War. The four oldest Fine children were born in Arkansas the rest were born in California. Isabell was called Bell by her family and friends.
Hiram and Bell probably met after his brother Anamias married Bell's sister Nancy in 1870. Hiram and Bell applied for their marriage license on October 31 and were married November 3, 1879. They moved to Shasta County in 1882. They had five children.
Lena Elvira b. Jun. 6, 1882 d. Nov. 1935 m. Ulysses Wertz
Lora Leonard b. Aug. 17, 1884 d. May 1969
Laurahannah b. Aug. 21, 1888 d. May 1943 m. Joe Seeley
Ida Pearl b. Jun. 28, 1891 d. Jun. 1968 m. Alvin Welendoroff
Oscar Stephen b. Feb. 4, 1894 d. Mar. 1969
Hiram and Bell never owned the land they worked and lived on, they always leased or rented from the landowner. They raised a few cows, pigs and chickens. Hiram raised draft horses and broke them to pull freight wagons. He was a teamster, and drove freight wagons to Old Shasta, Yreka and Fall River Mills. The Diestlehorst family had a contract with the county to maintain the roads; Hiram worked on the roads using his own team. Hiram cut wood and delivered it to Redding. They lived in many different areas of Shasta County, Millville, Pacheco, Gas Point, Texas Springs, Cottonwood, Fall River Mills and Happy Valley. Bell raised a garden, cooked and cared for her family; she liked to make lace, she crocheted, tatted and knitted.
Their son Oscar lived with them and took over the horses when Hiram was too old to work with them. They were living in Happy Valley when Hiram died at age of 76, in 1928. After his death Bell continued to live with Oscar. She often visited her grandson Hiram Wertz and his family. She still liked to do the needle work and enjoyed passing these skills on to the younger girls in the family. She was living in Central Valley (now Shasta Lake City) when she died at the age of 87, April, 1949. They are both buried in the Redding Cemetery.
Hiram and J Bell have one grandson, Wayne Wertz, and several great-grandchildren living in Shasta County. They have several great‑grandchildren living in Siskiyou County.
Source: Shasta Historical Society - Feb. 2000