Jacobsen, Henry J.

Born in Horsens, Jutland, Denmark, in 1878, Henry J. Jacobsen completed a four-year tailoring apprenticeship before emigrating to the United States in October 1901. After a brief stay in Council Bluffs, Iowa, he relocated to Oleander, Fresno County, in February 1902 to live near his uncle, Rev. P. J. Ostegaard. To master English, Jacobsen attended local schools before opening a merchant-tailoring business in Selma under the advice of Senator W. F. Chandler. He subsequently acquired “The Toggery” men’s store, operating it successfully for a decade before moving briefly to Los Angeles to study the real estate market.

Returning to Selma, Jacobsen partnered with L. B. Farmer to establish the real estate firm of Farmer & Jacobsen, dealing extensively in agricultural properties while developing several personal ranches and constructing a modern home on North McCall Avenue. In 1907, he married Gyda Petersen, a native of Denmark, with whom he had two sons, Henry J. and Oscar C. Active in the local Chamber of Commerce, the Raisin Growers’ and California Peach Growers’ associations, and the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jacobsen earned a strong reputation as an influential Selma businessman and community leader.