Linshoft, Hans

Hans Linshoft, born at Rutenberg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, on March 19, 1880, was the son of Theodore Linshoft and Louise Langermann. Apprenticed to a florist and landscape gardener at age fifteen, he honed his trade across Europe and served two years in the Bavarian Army. In 1906, he immigrated directly to Fresno, California, where he applied his scientific background to local viticulture and market gardening in the Holland and Victoria colonies.

After leasing and improving vineyards on Blackstone Avenue, Hans purchased a twenty-acre ranch in the Granville district in 1912. He developed the land with alfalfa, fig trees, and vines, while also serving as foreman of the neighboring Malter vineyard. Naturalized as an American citizen on December 18, 1911, he married Mrs. Pauline Adloff Linshoft in Fresno, with whom he had a daughter named Lillie, and became an active supporter of the California Associated Raisin Company.