In 1877, after serving in the U.S. Navy, our great-grandfather, Isaac B. Parsons, made his life in Hayward, California where he was a prominent businessman and civic leader. He was introduced to Clarksburg in 1911 when, in his capacity as the President of the Bank of Hayward, he financed and helped to develop 20,000 acres of land in the Clarksburg area purchased by the Netherlands Farming Company. Isaac recognized the incredible agricultural potential of this special area and a review of public documents reveals that he purchased dozens of Clarksburg properties over the next several years where he - along with his son, A.B. Parsons - farmed and packed fresh produce.
Among those properties that Isaac purchased was the 345 acres that we call our home ranch. He gifted this ranch to his daughter, Helen, and her husband, Howard “Baldie” Reamer. Helen and Baldie made their home here with their five children. In addition to raising her children and tending to her cattle, Helen was an active member of the Republican Party. She hosted high level fundraisers and even served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention. Meanwhile, Baldie continued in his father-in-law’s footsteps farming various open ground crops, and Reamer Farms was officially born.
In turn, the family farm was managed by the youngest of Helen and Baldie’s children, Howard “Fritz” Reamer, who - like his father and grandfather - was an active member of Rotary and a character for the ages! It was under Fritz’s management that Reamer Farms incorporated in 1976 and developed its first vineyard - Chenin Blanc - in 1978. Over the next two decades, Fritz developed more vineyards but continued to farm open ground crops until his retirement in 1996.
It is under the current manager and Fritz’s only son, James Reamer, that we became primarily wine grape producers. We now farm nearly 900 acres of wine grapes that we sell to various Napa-area, coastal, and central valley wineries. We are proud of James’ stewardship of the family company and our family name.
In 2007, Jamie Reamer, the oldest daughter of James and Sofia Reamer, joined the family business. She currently works alongside her father in the office and in the vineyards. Down the road, she will succeed her father as manager of Reamer Farms and will represent the fourth generation of our family to do so.
