John Heringa (First Generation) was born in 1819 in the province of Groningen, Holland. His grandmother and an uncle raised him after both of his parents died by the time he was 9 years old. He was bound to farm work at 12 years and then moved to live with an uncle who ran a dry goods store and manufactured woolen goods. At 21 years he joined the army and served 9 years after which he joined the police force in the town of Oppenhuezen. He met and married Geertje, a town native, in 1857. At the age of 49 with 4 children under 9 years old, having saved $1100, John and family started for America. They sailed from Liverpool and landed in Boston thence on to NYC arriving after a voyage of 14 days. Following a three- day layover, the family boarded a steamer to Panama, crossed the ismiss on land, then sailed for San Francisco, arriving 7 weeks after departing England. They immediately boarded a paddlewhealer for Sacramento arriving the next day to the welcome of a countryman and friend who sold them a 30-acre ranch for six hundred dollars. This ranch was located on Merritt Island, just below Clarksburg. They soon invested another three hundred dollars in cows and started a dairy farm. The family lived on Merritt Island for three years and sold the farm due to annual flooding of the Sacramento River. John moved his family to East Sacramento purchasing 160 acres and devoting their efforts to general farming on a ranch located near what is now Mather Air Base. John Heringa died in 1902 having been predeceased by his wife Geertje 4 years earlier in 1898.

Peter Heringa was 9 years old when his parents came to the Sacramento Delta. Instead of farming the older brother took up a number of pursuits. These included working for the Western Pacific Railroad, where he did everything from being an engineer to a car painter. He was also a fireman in the Sacramento Volunteer Fire Department. He met his future wife in Sacramento and was married their on December 25, 1890. He also helped the campaign of one of the governors of that day and apparently made a contribution to the campaign. He was appointed as Chief Commisary Officer at San Quentin where both of his sons were born, Howard in 1893 and Lawrence in 1898. Lawrence W. Heringer was/is my father.

Joseph Heringer, (Second Generation) was the 2nd of five children born to John & Geertje in Holland. He was 7 years old when he sailed for America with his parents. He helped his dad on the Merritt Island dairy as a young boy and then as a teen on their new ranch in East Sacramento. Joseph married Martha at the age of 24 and farmed in East Sacramento until returning to Clarksburg in 1901 at the age of 38. He rented farm ground on Merritt Island until 1906 when he bought a farm in the Lisbon district just north of Clarksburg. There he farmed hay, grain, and some row crops until his death in 1912. Joseph was Michael W. Heringer's (great)2 grandfather. The name was Americanized in the late 1800's.