Flew the Coop

 This week's prompt is "Flew the coop," which immediately makes me think of chickens. Over the years I've acquired a small collection of chicken knick-knacks. I was surprised, and delighted, when I found out that my Grandma Henrickson also had a small collection of chicken items in her kitchen. In my current neighborhood we have a band of wild, wandering, free range chickens. There's nothing quite like waking up every morning to a rooster crowing. 

But, this prompt mostly made me think of my paternal 2x great uncle, George Herman Karg. George was the uncle of my great grandmother Emily Dobbratz Ashley, on my Dad's side. George was born in Germany in 1866 and immigrated to America with his family, and led quite the life. He lived in Chicago and Los Angeles. He was a life long bachelor. He liked to travel. He was a pharmacist and is the uncle who introduced cousin George Remus to becoming a pharmacist, before Remus became a bootlegger. Uncle George was an actor at one point, and, near the end of his life, he helped operate and run a chicken ranch in California.

In 1930 George Karg decided to move to California. I'm not sure what made him decide to move, or what prompted it. Maybe a change of scenery? I found this article in the Monrovia News, from February 21, 1930.

I found some pictures that Uncle George sent to his niece Emily, my great grandmother. They're very cool.

George Herman Karg, 1930

The 1930 Federal Census gives us a few more clues about George's chicken venture. He's listed as being a boarder and living with the Berlin family. A husband and wife, child, and mother in-law, and boarder George, all living at the same house. Unfortunately for George, the chicken ranch didn't seem to work out. In 1933 I found a foreclosure sale for the property in the local newspaper. For nonpayment of debt.

I know Uncle George went back to Chicago for a bit, but then later returned to California as he was living in Los Angeles when he passed away in 1948. He was 81 years old when he passed away. From a family history book I have on my Dobbratz and Karg relatives, it was stated that Uncle George was "highly thought of" by my great grandmother and her brother and sisters. In addition to these pictures, I also have postcards that Uncle George sent to Emily from his travels to Canada. She must've thought highly of him if she kept his pictures, letters and postcards. 

I did some research on Monrovia and Duarte California. The land where the chicken ranch was on was originally part of a much larger plot of land deeded to Andres Duarte after he retired from the Mexican army. When the land was handed over to America he was validated as the landowner and kept his land. He later became unable to pay the taxes on his land and it was developed and sold off. It sits in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. The land was primarily used as agricultural land until the end of World War II. I wasn't able to find an exact address for George's house so I couldn't google it to see what the land looks like today. I'm pretty sure there's no chicken ranch left though. :)