Estel Family

Frederick & Augusta, John & Pauline,
Frank & Mabel, Robert & Hazel

This page is dedicated to the ancestors and descendants of John Frederick Estel and Pauline Mayer

Tribute to Robert (Bob) Estel                           Tribute to Hazel Mason Estel

Back: Tim Liddle, Dick Estel, Teri Estel Upshaw Liddle, Johnny Upshaw, Linda Estel, Bob Estel, Hazel Mason Estel. 
Front: Jennifer Estel Neely, Michael Liddle, Rod Neely, December 12, 1999

Genealogical Charts

Estel Biography and History

Fredrick Estel

Fredrick Estel was born in Dresden, Saxony, Germany on May 7, 1815. In 1839 he married Augusta Grentz who was born in Prussia, Germany, May 13, 1819. They had five children before emigrating to America, and five weeks after they arrived in Whitehouse, Ohio, their sixth child was born. Three more children were born in Whitehouse, including John Fredrick Estel. The family lived in Whitehouse from their arrival on October 18, 1854 until 1866 when they moved to Fulton Township, buying a farm near Swanton. They lived there until Fredrick's death on April 21, 1897. His wife, Augusta, died December 26, 1898 and they are buried in Fulton Union Cemetery.

Their children were Augusta, who married Yarner Rakestraw; Anna Frances, who married Martin Kuebler; Amel, who died unmarried at the age of 28; Augustus who married Lavina Stayer; Pauline who married Cornelius Acker; Mary who married William Grumme; John Fredrick who married Pauline Mayer; Malinda who married Edward Heinz, and Amelia who married Byron McClure.

John Fredrick Estel

During his boyhood John Fredrick lived in Fulton County, attended the common schools, and acquired much knowledge of farming. About the time he reached his majority he went west, working on farms in Barton County, Kansas during 1879. The following year he was employed as a cooper at Marshalltown, Iowa. After his return to Fulton County, he lived with his parents.

On May 2, 1889 John was married to Pauline Mayer, a daughter of John Martin Mayer and Elizabeth Brenner.

After his parents' death, he rented a farm in Spencer Township for two years. He then bought fifty acres known as the Levi Merrill farm in Section 10 of Fulton Township.

John Fredrick and Pauline had two sons, John Martin Estel, born January 28, 1891 and Frank Lawrence born June 17, 1892.

Pauline died April 26, 1940, age 85 and John Fredrick died February 15, 1949, age 92. They are buried in Fulton Union Cemetery.

Frank Lawrence Estel

Frank Estel spent most of his childhood and youth in his parents home about a mile north of Ai, an Ohio crossroads. He lived across the road from the Frank Merrill family. His friendship with their son Roy lasted throughout their lifetime, and extended to their respective children and grandchildren.

In 1910 Mabel June Clifton, daughter of William D. and Aletha Gasche Clifton, moved from Winimeg to the Ai district. This led to the marriage of Frank and Mabel on November 27, 1913. They lived in the family home until the birth of their son Robert on June 13, 1914. They then rented various farms and continued their farming operation through 1934.

At this time, following the urging of one of Frank's cousins, Frank, Mabel and Bob headed for Pasadena, California. The streets were not paved with gold--the depression was still with them--but the California dream had been planted.

In February they visited Roy and Ruby Merrill in Mariposa, California. Roy was going to build a sawmill in the spring and offered Frank and Bob jobs. They spent the summer living at Owl Creek in a small cabin, but Mabel got very homesick for her family in Ohio. In October, 1935, they went back to Ohio. Frank and Mabel got a job working at the "County Farm," a charity residential facility; while Bob worked for various farmers at a dollar a day.

During the summer of 1936 Bob met Hazel Mason. Bob couldn't get work in Ohio to support them, so he and his parents went back to Pasadena for the winter and on to Mariposa in the spring to work again in the sawmill. At the end of the season they went back to Pasadena and in January Bob went back to Ohio with the purpose of bringing Hazel to California. They were married April 12, 1938 and left for Mariposa one week later.

Frank and Mabel stayed in Pasadena in the winter and Mariposa in the summer through 1941. In the spring of 1942 Frank had an opportunity to go to Ventura and work at the naval base at Port Hueneme. After World War II he went to work on an electric line crew building lines in Ventura County. Except for a five year period in the 1950's which they spent in Ohio, they stayed in Ventura until he retired in 1967. At this time they moved to Fresno to be closer to their family.

Mabel died July 27, 1985 at the age of 91. After 71 years of marriage this opened a new life for Frank. After his grief subsided, he learned to cook, shop and clean house and became very self-sufficient. He was always very appreciative of anything his family and friends did for him.

Frank lived to celebrate his 100th birthday on June 17, 1992, celebrating with his son and daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a great great grandson; as well as nieces and nephews who came from Ohio, Florida and Oregon. He passed away in November of that year. He and Mabel are buried in the Mariposa Cemetery.

Robert William Estel

Bob worked in Merrill's sawmill until it burned in 1947. He then worked for short periods at other mills, gold mines, and whatever he could find. In 1948 he went to work for Jack Messenger, who had a plumbing, electric and sheet metal shop. About nine years later when Jack was ready to retire, he sold the electric portion of the business to Bob and the plumbing and sheet metal to Glen Ballard. 

At this time Hazel started working with Bob doing the book work and learning that there was more to electric wiring than pushing a plug in the wall or flipping a switch. They continued this enterprise for 20 years, retiring in 1976. After that they kept busy with their family, many trips in the motor home, and other activities. Bob passed away in March, 2005, and Hazel in August, 2007; they are buried in the Mariposa Cemetery.

Richard Mason Estel

Richard (known as Dick) was born in 1939. Since Hazel wanted to give birth in a hospital, and Mariposa had none, she went to Merced for the event. Dick spent his childhood through high school in rural Mariposa County. He can remember living at Merrill's Mill in the summer of 1942, although the family soon moved into a home Bob built where Pegleg Road joins Highway 49. In those years it was just the Bootjack Road; the state highway designation did not come until the late 1950's.

Dick graduated from Mariposa County High School in 1957 after serving as editor of the school paper, The Sluice, for two years. He attended Fresno State College, working at Mars Drive-In during the first three years. He majored in radio and television broadcasting, and worked at KBIF and KYNO in Fresno; and later KBMX and KGEN in Coalinga and Tulare.

After a six month tour with the National Guard at Fort Ord, Dick found work at KLYD-TV and later KBAK-TV in Bakersfield. In June 1963 he married Jacquelynn Callan, daughter of John and Helen Kozma Callan.

Their daughter Theresa (Teri) was born in 1964, followed by Jennifer in 1966. At this time, the family moved to Fresno, where Dick went to work at KJEO, the local ABC television affiliate. Dick and Jackie divorced in 1972, but he maintained a close relationship with his daughters.

The mid-1970's brought a big change. Dick worked for about a year for a TV station in Salinas, but realized that the broadcasting business was not to be his future. He returned to Fresno, and in 1976 went to work at the county welfare department as an eligibility worker. He became a supervisor, eventually taking on a special assignment interpreting regulations and policy and writing policy documents for what had become the Department of Employment and Temporary Assistance. He received a temporary upgrade to Program Manger during the last six months before his retirement in April, 2002.

His interests include maintaining this web site, camping with his family, traveling, and spending time with his two grandsons, Johnny (born in 1984) and Michael (born in 1997); and great grandsons Colton and Jack (sons of Johnny and Brittany Morris Upshaw).

Linda Marie Estel

After working many years in various endeavors, Linda received a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Minnesota in Duluth, where she has lived since 1976. She then went to work for New Moon Publishing where she retired as Chief Operating Officer in 2006. She and her long-time companion Anne Tellett, a university professor, were married in August 2013. They live on 40 acres of woodland in rural Duluth.

With Anne's retirement from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 2015, they spend their time working on the property, and escaping the Duluth winters by traveling in Florida and other parts of the south in the winter.

Theresa Lynn Estel

Theresa, married and divorced, has a son Johnny Upshaw, born August 18, 1984. She married Tim Liddle in June, 1993. In 1996 she received a bachelor's degree in psychology at California State University, Fresno, and was employed as a working manager in the Alzheimer's unit at Arbor Village, a residential care facility. On July 23, 1997, Teri and Tim became the parents of Michael William Liddle. In 2006 she started working for ARC of Fresno, a support program for mentally challenged people. A major career change came in 2016, when she went to work for ACRT, inspecting power lines for conflict with tree growth in the foothills and mountains of Fresno County.

In 2019 she received her master's degree in Religious Science and is a Supervising Clinical Chaplin with Nancy Hines Hospice, providing support and counseling to hospice patients.

Teri and Tim separated in 2019.

Jennifer Ann Estel

Jennifer is married to Rodney Neely. They both graduated from Kings River College with Associate of Science degrees in forestry. They worked in Kings Canyon National Park, and later for the US and state forestry agencies. Early in the 21st century they built a new home on five acres near Oakhurst CA. Rod worked with ACRT for a number of years, inspecting power lines in Merced County. Jennifer earned a teaching credential and works for the Madera County Office of Education, teaching a class of 4th through 12th grade students in Chowchilla.

Genealogical Charts

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Pedigrees

Ernest Bower & Frank Estel, about 1912

Genealogy Pages

Watkins Family