The following is excerpted and transcribed from the publication Oakland, 1852-1938, Hinkel and McCann, eds., published under the WPA by The Oakland Public Library in 1939. For information on the parenthetical references, see the Foreign Pioneers Index Page
CECELIA ABROTT was born in GERMANY in 1805. She came to California in the early days and passed away in 1861 at the age of fifty-six. In 1866 she was reinterred at Mountain View Cemetery. (M.V.C.).
BARBARA ARMBRUSTER was born on December 7, 1823, in Grossherzogtum Baden, GERMANY. She lived in Oakland from 1852, at 6433 Colby Street. Her occupation was housewife. (Altenheim Files )
PETER BACKES, a native of Prussia, GERMANY, was proprietor of the Broadway Saloon, between Fifth and Sixth Streets in 1869. (Stilwell's Directory)(M.V.C.)
HERMAN BAHLS came from Westphalia, GERMANY before 187O. He lived in West Oakland, but was engaged in the book-binding and printing business in San Francisco, under the firm name of Althof and Bahls. Both families lived in Oakland. Mr. Bahls was the first president of the Deutcher Club in Oakland. (F.W.S. )
DAVID BATEMAN, was born in GERMANY in 1826. He migrated to California where he died in Oakland on February 2, 1870. (M.V.C.)
JOSEPH BECHT was born in Bavaria, GERMANY, in 1830. In 1869 he pas con- ducting a liquor business at the corner of Broadway and Eleventh Streets under the firm name of Becht & Co. Hiss residence was on Eleventh Street between Broadway and Franklin Street. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
MRS. S. BEEL came to Oakland from GERMANY in 1854 and by 1874 was listed as a capitalist. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
CLAUS BEHRMAN, a native of GERMANY, owned a saloon in Oakland in the '60s. In 1869 he lived on the northwest corner of Tenth and Franklin Streets. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C.)
HERMAN BENDEL, born in Bremen, GERMANY, lived on Third Street in Oakland in one of the early show places. Mr. Bendel's wife was also a native of Bremen. He had a large wholesale grocery business in San Francisco, but always lived in Oakland. (F.W.S.)
WILLIAM BENITZ was born in Baden, GERMANY in 1821. He came overland to California, arriving on October 1, 1842, according to his signature on the rolls of the Society of California Pioneers where he is listed as No. 1883. However, when he applied for naturalization papers in 1844 he claimed to have come here in 1841. In 1845 he rented the Ross Rancho from Sutter, lived at Ross until 1867, and then moved to Oakland. In 1874 he went to live in the Argentine Republic where a brother had settled, and passed away there in 1876 at the age of sixty-two leaving a family. He listed himself as a capitalist while residing in Oakland at the northeast corner of Eighth end Webster Streets.(Stilwell's Directory) (Bancroft, vol. XIX, p. 716) (Register of Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco)
JOHN H. D. BERNER was a native of Holstein, GERMANY, where he was born on February 2, 1845. After 1870 he lived in Oakland at the Cosmopolitan Hotel On Eighth and Franklin Streets. He was a cigar-maker. A sister, Mrs. Margarete Summers-Lompe lived at Santa Barbara, California. (Altenheim Files)
EMANUEL D. BLOCK, a native of Bavaria, GERMANY, came to the United States when very young. In 1852 he arrived in California from New York. In 1853, he opened a general store in San I.eandro and in 1863, went into the dry-goods business in Oakland on Broadway between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Later the store was moved to Broadway and Ninth Street. (Halley, p. 547)
GEORGE BLOOM came to California from GERMANY in 1855, and to Oakland in 1857, where he dealt in groceries and liquors. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
JOHK H. BLOTE, a native of GERMANY, had a wine and liquor store on Broadway between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets in 1869. His death occurred in 1872. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C.)
ADOLPH BOCK was born in GERMANY in 1818. He migrated to California where he died at Oakland in December, 1870. (M.V.C. )
FRITZ BOEHMER'S birthplace was Magdeburg, Prussia, GERMANY. Date of birth, May 15, 1831. In 1851 Mr. Boehmer and Henry Rosenbaum, with the proceeds of a mining venture, bought a tract of 160 acres of land which is now part of Oakland. Later they sold out and went to Sacramento where they established a, large restaurant business. (Guinn, vol. II, pp. 577-83)
MRS. JOHANNA SEVENING BOEHMER, the wife of Fritz Boehmer, was also born in GERMANY.(Guinn, vol. II, pp. 577-83)
CHARLES BREDHOFF was born in GERMANY in 1830. He migrated to California and entered the brewery business. In 1869 he was with Gieschen & Co. who operated the Washington Brewery on Broadway between Eighth and Ninth Streets. Mr. Bredhoff's home at that time was on the south side of Sixth Street between Broadway and Franklin Street. He died in 1881. (Stilwell's Directory)(M.V.C.)
HENRY BREDHOFF was brought from GERMANY at the age of three. His daughter-in-law, Mrs. Adelia Schuech and F. W. Stromberg both vouch for his being in Oakland before 1870. (Mrs. Adelia Schuech, 547 Excelsior Blvd., Oakland) (F. W. Stromberg, Piedmont)
FREDERICK BRUCKERMAN was born in GERMANY on March 29, 1835. Arriving in California on September 20, 1854, he first lived in Alameda County near Fruitvale (East Oakland), later at San Jose and at Santa Rosa. He worked for Lean- Haskell in 1855. He married Lina Louise Raush in San Francisco in 1872. In later life he lived at Tablerock, Sierra County. (California Pioneer File, California State Library, Sacramento)
HENRY BRUGGMAN was born in GERMANY in 1830 and passed away in Oakland in August, 1869. (M.V.C.)
DIEDRICH BUHSEN; born in Holstein, GERMANY, on August 26, 1820. After a stay in New York City he came to San Francisco in 1858, and to Oakland in July, 1864. In West Oakland he erected a small dwelling, afterwards destroyed by fire. Later he erected a store building. In the course of years he accumulated considerable property in the vicinity. On August 26, 1848. he married Miss Anna Bockwaldt. They had two children, Eda and A. Nicholas Buhsen. (Wood, p. 857)
PHILLIP CONRADI came from Westphalia, GERMANY. He was in the cigar and tobacco manufacturing business in San Francisco but lived in Oakland. (O.W.D. )
GUSTAVE COPENHAGEN was born in GERMANY in 1830. In 1869 he was a teacher at the Oakland College School at the corner of Thirteenth and Harrison Streets. He died June 13, 1887. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
GEORGE CRIST, the tannery owner, was a native of GERMANY who was here before the '70s. He operated the Crist Tannery in East Oakland. "Among his children I remember Julius, Rudolph and Frederick." (F.W.S. )(Confirmed by Mrs. R. C. Crist, daughter-in-law)
FREDERICK DELGER was born on March ll, 1822, in Saxony, GERMANY. After traveling widely in Europe as a young man, in 1847 he came to New York and in l853 arrived in San Francisco. For a time he took employment but finally opened his own shoe-shop in San Francisco and prospered. Soon he began to acquire city lots to improve them and to sell them profitably. He came to Oakland in 1860 and continued to deal in land, buying ten acres on Telegraph Avenue between Seventeenth and Twentieth Streets and San Pablo Avenue. The purchase price was $4,300, a trifle compared to the present value of that section. He became a man of means and a director in various financial institutions.(Bay of San Francisco, vol. II, p. 182)(Guinn, vol. II, p. 827)
MRS. ERNESTINE BLECHER DELGER was born in Darmstadt, GERMANY. She married Frederick Delger in New York in 1848 and shared his life and fortunes during their career in California. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 828)
JOSEPH P. DIEVES a native of Hiemerzheim, on the Rhine, Prussia, GERMANY, born August 24, 1816. He spent part of his earlier life in Belgium, France and Holland, and then came to Boston. He afterwards went to Milwaukee and in 1853 cane on to California, settling in Oakland in the fall of that year. He operated various hotels in Oakland, and later became part owner of the Oakland Brewery. One of his enterprises was the Three-Mile House. (Thompson & West, p. 169) (Wood, p. 873)
MRS. GERTRUDE GETTE DIEVES also a native of GERMANY married Joseph Dieves in April, 1846. (Wood, p. 874)
JOHN HENRY DOHRMANN was born in GERMANY on April 29, 1840. In 1854 he took passage for America via Cape Horn to California, locating with his parents in Oakland. He became a very accomplished musician and a pioneer leader of orchestras in this region. He acted as conductor for the Oakland Tivoli Opera and also for the old Dietz Opera House. He composed a popular piece "Snow flake" and prepared many orchestrations of music for local organizations. He was recognized as one of the best teachers of piano in the state and prospered in his profession. He married Theresa Gubbioti on May 1, 1861, at San Jose. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 469)
FRANCESCA DORFLER came to this country from her native GERMANY where she was born in 1819. She passed away in 1869 and was buried in Saint Mary's Cemetery, Oakland. (St. M. C.)
CHARLES EMIL ECKERT. Born at Kuelsheim, GERMANY on January 28, 1845. He came to America and after 1864 lived in Oakland. He was a shoemaker and unmarried. His address was Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street. (Altenheim Files)
GEORGE M. EMLING was born in GERMANY in 1819. He lived in Oakland in the '60s. (M.V.C. )
HENRY EVERS, a native of Bremen, GERMANY, born on March 3, 1844, was undertaker and coroner in Alameda County for many yes. In 1868 he married Mary Cecelia Suckert in Oakland. He was the partner of La Marche, a Frenchman, in a grocery business at the corner of Seventh and Broadway in early days. His sister-in-law, Miss Leona Suckert, who recalled these facts perfectly in 1938, said that in those times people from the different countries mingled freely in work an& play. When the Germans, for example, gave a grand ball, nearly every nationality would be represented and all were most amiable ad agreeable. She thought it a shame that the nations of the world could not do now as their people did here in pioneer days.(Mss Leona Suckert, Altenhein, Oakland)
HENRY FINGELDIE, of GERMANY, born in 1829, emigrated from his native country to America and in 1869 he was conducting a meat market in Oakland, California, on Broadway, between Second and Third Streets. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
FREDERICK C. FISHER born in GERMANY, passed away in Oakland on July 17, 1868, aged forty-one years. (M.V. C. )
ANDREW FRANK. Born in Wuerttamberg, GERMANY, on October 29, 1836. He be- came a resident of Oakland in 1866, his post office address being Dimond. He was a member of Lyon Post of the Grand Army of the Republic--a mark of faith in his adopted country. (Altenheim Files)
AUGUSTUS FRANK was another GERMAN-born resident of early Oakland. The notice of his demise on September 15, 1867, is the only record that could be found. (St. M.C.)
JOHN L. FRESE was born in Bremen, GERMANY, April 15, 1831. In 1849 he settled in Contra Costa County on what is now Adeline Street between First and Second Streets, Oakland. Here he engaged in farming and was said to have been the first to raise potatoes in what became Oakland Township. He moved in 1850 to a place known as the "Old German Corral," between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, where he remained for six or seven years. Then he went into the restaurant and lodging house business "up town"-that is, where the town site was at that time. In 1874 he is recorded as the proprietor of the R. R.. Exchange Hotel in West Oakland. (Wood, p. 865) (Thompson & West, p. 167)
MRS. M. WEINGTHE FRESE a native of GERMANY was married to John L. Frese, mentioned above, in Oakland in the fall of 1860. She became the mother of two children, Carl J. Frese and Louisa Frese. (Wood, p. 865)
JOSEPH GIESS was born in Hesse-Cassel, GERMANY. He came over the plains to California, arriving on October 1, 1849. 9e was member No. 2334 of the Society of California Pioneers and designated himself on the register as a gardener in Oakland. (Register of Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco)
ALBERT GRAFSTEAD came from GERMANY, his native country, to America, passing away in Oakland on November 12, 1870. (M.V.C. )
"WILLIAM G. C. CROSS, a native of Saxony (GERMANY), 80; since 1867 resident of Oakland, Alameda County, where he died; a wife and five children survive." (Grizzly Bear Magazine, October 1927, p. 18)
"His son, Geo. C. Gross, was county clerk." (F. W. Stromberg's Files, 1938)
"MRS. KATHERINA HAAS, native of GERMANY, 84; since 1865 resident of Alameda County; died at Oakland, survived by four children."(Grizzly Bear Magazine, January 1931, p. 22)
DIEDRICH HAMMERS was born in GERMANY in 1808. The lure of a strange, new country brought him to America and to California where he lived to the end of his life, May 28, 1884. In 1869 he was listed as a harness-maker.(Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
FREDZRICK HAMPEL, a baker, in Brooklyn (East Oakland) came from south GERMANY in the '50s. (F.W.S. )
HENRY HAMPEL, brother of' Frederick, the baker, was a blacksmith in East Oakland, and came with his brothers from south GERMANY in the '50s.(F.W.S.)
JOHN HAMPEL, the third of the brothers, was a farmer, living northeast of Lake Merritt. (F.W.S. ) He was born in Wetter Kur-Hessen, GERMANY in 1829. He hired a substitute for himself in the German army and came to New York where as an expert blacksmith, he was employed by the Herring Safe Company, remaining with the firm several years. He came to California in 1854 and bought fifty acres in what is now East Oakland near Thirteenth Avenue. He married Elizabeth Younger, also a native of Germany. The original tract bought by John Hampel was 1ong ago divided up into city lots and improved. He died in 1890.(Guinn, vol. II, p. 724)
ELIZABETH YOUNGER HAMPEL was born in 1828, in GERMANY. She married John Hampel. Because of Mrs. Hampel's ill health in New York and the glowing accounts of her brothers-in-law about California she and her husband came to Oakland in 1854, via the Isthmus of Panama route. She and her husband were the parents of four sons and two daughters.(Guinn, vol. II, p. 724)
R. T. HARDING, a native of Westphalia, GERMANY, came to Oakland about 1857 or 1858 and was followed by his family in 1862. They first settled on San Pablo Creek but moved to Tenth Street between Broadway and Franklin Street. He was a wholesale dyer. One daughter, Mrs. Everding, died in Portland at the age of 95; the other Marie, never married, but lived at the old family residence on Adeline Street, Oakland, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, where she died, aged 84. (F. W.S. )
CHARLES F. HARTWIG was born about 1824 in GERMANY. He became an engineer for the old Central Pacific Railroad and in 1869 was living on Goss Street between Wood and William Streets at Oakland Point. His death is recorded in 1884. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
LOUISE MARIA HEIN was a native of Bremerhaven, GERMANY, where she was born on July 9, 1844. After 1866 she lived at 2048 Broadway, Oakland, and at 5209 Wentworth Avenue. Her occupation was housekeeper and mother. (Altenheim Files)
FREDERICK JULIUS HEINBOLD came from Saxony (GERMANY) where he was born on February 17, 1837. Coming to America in his boyhood, he lived in New Jersey for fifteen years. In 1863 he moved to San Francisco where he was married the following year, leaving soon afterward with his wife to locate in Oakland. In 1868, he built their residence at 14ll Franklin Street. He was a landscape gardener. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 626)
GUSTAVE A. HELMKE, whose birthplace was in GERMANY, died in Clinton (East Oakland) in 1867, aged 30. (M.V.C. )
J. F. HENKEN, reached Brooklyn (East Oakland) from GERMANY in 1864 and became proprietor of Butcher's Retreat. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
HENRY HEYER was born in GERMANY in 1831. He came to this country and was listed in 1869 as a gardener in Oakland, residing on the corner of Eleventh and West Streets. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
THOMAS HICKMAN arrived in California in 1842 from GERMANY. In 1870 he settled at Brooklyn (East Oakland) where he became a butcher. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
HEINRICH A. HILLEBRAND, at one time city clerk of Oakland, was born in GERMANY about 1825. Before entering political life he was a public school teacher in Oakland. In 1869 his home was on the north side of Fourth Street between Washington and Clay Streets. He died in 1881. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. ) (Wood)
SAMUEL HIRSHBERG was born in Prussia GERMANY, in 1828. When he arrived in Oakland in 1852 the town had less than 300 inhabitants. He engaged in the dry goods and clothing business here for nearly thirty years and was quite successful. He also became principal stockholder and manager of the Pacific Soap Works. Another notable event in his record was his organizing of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1862. He became its first president. (Wood, p. 907)
FRITZ HOOVER came to California from GERMANY where he was born in 1809. He died in Oakland in November, 1868. (M.V.C. )
CAROLINE HUMMELTENBERG was born in GERMANY in 1819. She passed away on December 20, 1874, in Oakland. In 1869 there was a Wm. H. Hummeltenberg in the milk business in Oakland, living at the northeast corner of First and Franklin Streets. Because of the unusual name and the above coincidence, Caroline is included here as possibly the wife or sister. (M.V.C.)
CHARLES JURGENS. Native city, Waldeck, GERMANY. Born, January 2, 1844. He lived in Michigan three years after coming to America. In 1863, when Oakland had only three business blocks and deep sand covered its streets, Charles Jurgens located in what was then San Antonio, where he got a job in a grocery. Afterwards he conducted his own store at Temescal (later North Oakland), but sold the business in 1876. Ambition and enterprise prompted him to include a basement and a plate-glass front (novelties never before seen in an Oakland business building), in his new St. John's House, the first business building on Twelfth Street, but as often happens, the public belittled his innovations. Later, he built the Globe Hotel at Thirteenth and Broadway. He became a director in many business establishments and banks. (Baker,. vol. II, p. 4l7)
MRS. KATHERINE SPRINGER JURGENS was born in GERMANY. She came to California in early days and was living in Oakland in 1870 when she married Charles Jurgens, for whose success she must be given due credit. (Guinn, p. 716)
AUGUST WILLIAM KAESE native of GERMANY, born in 1820, was living in Oak- land as early as 1869, on the south side of Tenth Street between Broadway and Franklin. He died in August, 1884, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery. (Stilwell's Directory)(M.V.C.)
ANTOINE KAISER, came here in the '50s from Westphalia, GERMANY. His wife came from Bremen, Germany. He lived in West Oakland and for forty years was employed by the Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads. (F.W.S. )
PROF. FREDERICK KATZENBACH was born in the city of Freimersheim, GERMANY in 1834. At the age of 16 he came to America and in the '70s was organist at the Howard Street Methodist Church in San Francisco. From 1870 to 1873 he taught piano at Mills Seminary in Oakland. During this time his wife died, leaving one daughter and three sons. For many years he maintained a studio on Tenth Street in Oakland. (Sixty Years of California Song, by Alverson, p. 231)
"DR. MAX KEMPE, native of GERMANY, 77; came in 1866; died in Oakland, Alameda County, survived by a wife." (Grizzly Bear Magazine, August 1932, p. 13)
CHARLES KERP. Born in Prussia (GERMANY ) in 1820. In 1870 he died in Oakland, California and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery. (M.V.C. )
HENRY KIRCHEIMER, GERMAN-born resident of Oakland, was said to have been very popular with the children. He was a manufacturing confectioner, located on the west side of Broadway between Tenth and Eleventh Streets during the '60s and '70s. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C.)
A. W. KLOSE was born on January 15, 1831, in Verden, kingdom of Hanover, GERMANY. He came to California in 1849 and went to Stockton early in 1854. Business called him to San Francisco in 1862. The Orpheus Society of male singers, which gave some fine concerts in Oakland at that time, included Mr. Klose as a charter member. He was a prominent choir singer for years. His death occurred on August 19, 1912. (Sixty Years of California Song, p. 245)
CHARLES KRAMM came from Hanover, GERMANY, where he was born on November 15, l836. In 1860 he cane to Oakland where, after working in a brewery for a few years, he started his own business, the Oakland Brewery, at the corner of Ninth and Broadway. It was destroyed by fire in 1870. Another brewery was then built at Nineteenth and Telegraph Avenue. Mr. Kramm died in 1890. (Baker, vol. II, p. 423)
--- "KREYENHAGEN from Oldenberg, GERMANY, came to Oakland in the '50s. He married an Irish girl whose first name was Delia but I can't remember his first name or initials." (F.W.S. )
JOSEPH LEPPOLD was born in GERMANY in 1838. In the '60s he was employed at the Contra Costa Laundry in Oakland. His death occurred in March, 1886. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
HENRY LIESE, came from GERMANY to Brooklyn (East Oakland) in 1855 to engage in the butcher business.(Thompson & West, p. 169)
CONRAD LIESE was a native of Cassel, GERMANY, born on July 25, 1833. In the '50s and '60s he conducted a wholesale and retail meat market in partnerhip with his brother, Henry, in East Oakland. In 1866 the Liese Brothers divided their interests, Henry remaining in East Oakland and Conrad transferring his business and residence to Alameda.(Guinn, vol. II, p. 512)
JOHN LUTH. Born in Schleswig-Holstein, GERMANY, in 1817. He came to California in 1852, moved to San Antonio (now part of Oakland) and on Sixteenth Avenue conducted a blacksmith business with Henry Hampel. The business prospered because nearly all the stages in and out of Oakland passed its door. Mr. Luth died in 1877. (Guinn, vol. II, pr 788)
MRS. LOUISA REIER LUTH. Also born in GERMANY. She came to New York in 1852 and in 1854 came to California where she married John Luth in 1855. To them were born five children who, with their mother, were living at the time John Luth died. Mrs. Luth was a sister of George Reier.(Guinn, vol. II, p. 789 )
"GEORGE LUTKEY, a veteran of the Mexican War, who came to California in January, 1850 died February 4th in Oakland, where he had resided for more than a half-century. He was a native of GERMANY, aged 88 years, and is survived by three children." (Grizzly Bear Magazine, March, 1912, p. 23)
JOHN MAY came from Hesse-Darmstadt, south GERMANY. In the early days he had a big butcher business in West Oakland. (F.W.S.)
HENRY MAY, a cousin of John May, the butcher, also from GERMANY, had a bakery in Oakland. (F.W.S. )
SAMSON MAYER who was born at Mainz, GERMANY, April 10, 1815. He arrived in California on February 22, 1850, where he followed his occupation of tradesman and upholsterer. He lived in San Francisco and in Oakland. In 1869 his Oakland address was Washington between Second and Third Streets, but in 1872 it was the north side of Fourth, between Jefferson and Clay. He died in San Francisco, March 25, 1893.(Pioneer File of California State Library, Sacramento) (Stilwell's Directory of 1869) (Langley's Directory of 1872)
ESTHER HEINEBERG MAYER was born at Burstenfurth, Westphalia, GERMANY, on March 10, 1829. She first came to Philadelphia, where her marriage to Samson Mayer was celebrated. on October 10, 1848. She did not come to California with her husband in 1850 but rejoined him the following year. She survived her husband for eleven years, passing away in Sea Francisco on December 30, 1904. (Pioneer File of California State Library and early Oakland directories)
JOHN H. MEDAU was a native of Toening, GERMANY, born September 12, 1830. In 1851 he migrated to New York where he remained a little over a year. About 1852 he arrived in California and came to Oakland in 1857. A tract of 487 acres of land in Brooklyn was purchased at that time by Mr. Medau, who disposed of it to a syndicate in 1901 for a large sum of money. He retired at that time and built a beautiful residence on Twelfth Street, Oakland. During his active career he helped organize the Central Creamery of Oakland.(Guinn, vol. II, p. 560)
MRS. REGINA ROBENGER MEDAU. Also born in GERMANY, but was living in San Francisco when she married John H. Medau in June, 1860. To them were born the following children: Edward, Theodore, Pauline, Adelphine, Matilda, Eda, Henry and Louisa. This large family offers a good reason for John Medau's great interest in public schools. For twenty years he was a trustee in the Fruitvale and Hays districts. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 560)
HERMAN MEESE. Born in Hanover, GERMANY, November 10, 1826. In March, 1850, he arrived in California where he continued in the contracting and building work he had learned as a boy and had followed in New Orleans when he first came to America in 1848. In 1865 he became president and manager of the Bag Sugar Refinery for which he had just constructed a building. He was the first president of the German Lutheran Zion's Congregation which he helped to organize. As the owner of a vineyard in Los Angeles County he was active in the Anaheim Wine Growers Association. Ho also formed the firm of Bach, Meese and Company. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 715) While working in San Francisco he still lived in Oakland. (Dr. Kohlmoos)
MRS. CATHARINA MARGARET (WALDMAN) MEESE, also a native of Hanover, GERMANY, was living in San Francisco when she married Herman Meese in 1853. To this union were born six sons and a daughter who survived their mother when she died in 1880. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 715)
DIEDRICH MENKE, born in GERMANY in 1847, was working in Oakland in 1869 for Wunnenburg and Company. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C.)
FREDERICK MEYER, who vas born in GERMANY, became one of Oakland's early veterinary surgeons. In 1869 his dwelling was on the southwest corner of Second Street and Broadway. (Stilwell 's Directory) (M.V. C. )
FRANK A. MILLER, a native of GERMANY, was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, April 28, 1870. (M.V.C. )
AUGUST MUENTER was born at Caroliensiel, GERMANY, on March 8, 1835. Arrived in California in 1851 by sailing vessel on September 26, 1861. He married Antoinette Johanna Maurer at Stockton. As a lawyer he practiced in various places, living in Stockton, San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda. He died at Stockton on April 30, 1910. (Pioneer File, California State Library, Sacramento )
ADOLPH C. MULLER was born in GERMANY in 1829. He arrived in California, via Cape Horn, on September 12, 1849. He registered as member No. 2302 in the rolls of the Society of California Pioneers and listed himself as a liquor dealer, residence Oakland.(Register of the Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco )
GEORGE H. NAEGLE was born in GERMANY about the year 1831. He came to California and entered the wood and coal business in Oakland. In 1869 he operated a yard between Broadway and Washington Street and resided at the southeast corner of First and Webster Streets. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
LOUIE NOLL, living at the southeast corner of Third and Harrison Streets in Oakland in 1869, was a GERMAN-born paper-hanger. He passed away on December 6, 1879. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
(--) "OPPENAUER, tailor, moved to Oakland in the '60s from San Francisco. They had their home on Fifth and Jackson Streets. He was a native of south GERMANY and his wife came from Bavaria,. Germany." (F. W. S. )
CAROLINE L. ORTMAN born in GERMANY in 1832, was employed at the Oakland Restaurant on Broadway between Seventh and Eighth Streets in 1869.(Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
WILLIAM ORTMAN a native of GERMANY, died in Oakland, California, on September 22, 1868, at the age of forty-five; (M.V.C.)
JACOB OTT, who was born in GERMANY in 1829, was living in 1869 in Oakland on Second Street between Grove and Jefferson Streets. He passed away on December 8, 1874. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C. )
ADELBERT PARIZOT, deceased in Oakland in 1870, was a native of GERMANY. (M.V.C. )
JOHN ADAM PAUL was born in GERMANY about 1836. In 1869 a John Paul was working in the New York Bakery in Oakland on Broadway, between Eighth and Ninth Streets. At the time he died, in 1883, Bancroft (vol. IV, History of California) referred to him as a German broker.(Possibly the same individual) (Stilwell's Directory.) (M.V.C. )
LOUIS PLEGE came from Preussich Muendeu, GERMANY, where he was born on February 23, 1822. After 1853 he lived in Oakland at 2320 Vallejo Street. He had a business of his own. His brother's grandson is Siegfried Plege. Was a member of Harmonia Lodge No. 13, I.O.O.F. (Altenheim Files)
ELIZABETH REICHERT left her birthplace in Prussia , (GERMANY), and came to California in 1849. She moved to Alameda County in 1863, where she was listed as a farmer in Brooklyn Township, now East Oakland. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
JOHN A. REICHERT, GERMANY-born, whose death was recorded in Oakland cemetery records for 1866, may have been Elizabeth Reichert's husband, or other kin. (St. M. C. )
L. R. REIDY who came here from GERMANY, his native country, was buried in Oakland in 1870. (M.V.C. )
CHARLES H. REIER left GERMANY for California, arriving in Oakland in 1853. In 1869 he was located on Broadway between Eighth and Ninth Streets and in 1874 was listed as a real estate operator. His wife was formerly Anna Knott. (Thompson &West, p. 169) Mr. F. W. Stromberg says that Chas. Reier came from Braunschweig, GERMANY, was once a painter and also conducted a grocery store in Oakland. (F.W.S. )
GEORGE REIER, also a native of GERMANY and a step-brother of Charles, arrived here in the '50s or '60s. He worked in a bakery in Oakland. (F.W.S.)
"MRS. LISETTE REINLE, a native of GERMANY, 86; came in 1862; did at Oakland; survived by three sons." (Grizzly Bear Magazine, January 1926, p. 26) Dr. Reinle of Merritt Hospital is one of the sons." (F.W.S.)
MRS. META ROEHRS was born in Beverstedt, Hanover, GERMANY, on March 16, l858. Shc resided in Oakland after 1868, at 1711 Ninety-second Avenue, Elmhurst. A daughter, Mrs. Emma Hoffmann, still lives at that address. (Altenheim Files)
FREDERICK RHODA was born near Stettin, GERMANY, in 1810. He came to California in 1847 from the Middle West, to which he had emigrated from Germany. In 1859 he came to Fruitvale and here purchased over 400 acres of land which he set out in fruit orchards which brought him large returns. In 1860 he sent to New York City the first fruit ever shipped from California, cherries bringing $5.00 per pound. (Guinn, vol. 2, p. 767) (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V.C.)
LOUIS RUGLE a native of GERMANY, was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in January, 1865.(St.M.C.)
LASERY ROSENBERG; born in Prussia (GERMANY) February, 1846. His family moved to New York when he was only two years old, and came to Oakland in 1856. He lived with his Uncle Samuel Hirshberg in order to attend the Collegiate Institute of Rev. H. Durant, while his parents were in business at Iowa Hill. Later he left Oakland but came back in 1870 and operated a cigar store at Seventh and Broadway.(Wood, p. 969)
MORRIS ROSENBERG; born in Prussia (GERMANY), May 1, 1817. He was the father of Lasery Rosenberg. Came to California in 1852, where he worked as a tailor in San Francisco for two years, ran his own business in Iowa Hill for sixteen years and then came to Oakland in 1870.(Wood, p. 969)
WILLIAM T. SAGEHORN was born in Hanover, GERMANY, in 1833. There he was educated until his eighteenth year. In 1851 he arrived in New York and remained there until 1855. He then came to California. and after working as a miner, stock-raiser and hotel man for a period of twelve years in different parts of the state, he located in Oakland in 1867. He built up a successful fuel and feed business at 469 Sixth Street, Oakland. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 723)
JACOB SAMM of Samm & Westphal had the Bay City flour-mill at the corner of Clay and First Streets, Oakland. Westphal and Samm were both foreign-born, Samm coming from south Germany. (F.W.S. )
CONRAD SAUL; born in GERMANY in 1816 was buried in Oakland on April 15, 1869. (M.V.C.)
ALBERT B. SCHAFER came to San Francisco in 1858 from his native GERMANY, where he was born in 1830. About 1868 he located in Oakland. On the first through train from the Pacific in 1869, he left for a visit to his fatherland. He conducted the Nicholl House in Oakland for some years. (Bay of San Francisco, vol II, 1892)
ANNIE M. SCHAFFER; born in GERMANY in 1799; was buried in Oakland on November 26, 1870 (M.V.C.)
FREDERICK SCHIMMELPHENIG; born in GERMANY in 1836. In the '60s he had a grocery store at San Antonio (East Oakland). On 'Wednesday morning October 21, 1868 "Schimmelphenig's new brick building was almost entirely destroyed" (by the disastrous earthquake). He, his wife Louisa, and his family were very well known in early days.(F.W.S.) (Halley, p. 262)
CHARLES SMACHER of Brooklyn (East Oakland) came to California from GERMANY in 1851 and to Brooklyn Township in l867. (Thompson and West, p. 169)
FREDERICK SCHMIDT was born in GERMANY in 1819 and in 1869 was living in Oakland at the southeast corner of Second and Alice Streets. He died in July, 1877. (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V. C. )
WILLIAM SCHMIDT of Fruitvale (East Oakland) migrated from GERMANY to California in 1858 and to this city in 1869. He was in business in San Francisco as president of the San Francisco Stock Brewery. (Thompson and West, p. 169)
JOHN SCHNEIDER. contractor and builder, a native of Baden, GERMANY, built many houses and buildings in Oakland and was living in East Oakland in 1866. In 1870 he moved to Twenty-ninth and West Streets where he lived the rest of his life, dying at the ago of ninety-four. (F.W.S.)
CHRISTIAN F. SCHOLL was a native of GERMANY. He was a gunsmith and owned a gun store on Seventh Street between Washington and Clay Streets. (F.W.S.) (Frank Martens)
ADOLPH SCHULTZ born in Prussia GERMANY, in 1831; buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, November 30, 1870. (M.V.C.)
"MRS. ADELINE SIEBE, a native of GERMANY, 90; came in 1858; died at Oakland, Alameda County, survived by two daughters." {Grizzly Bear Magazine, July, 1930, p. 24) "Cousin of the other Siebes." (Dr. Kohlmoos)
JOHN SING, anothar GERMAN-born resident of California passed away in Oakland in 1869. (M.V.C.) .
HENRY J. SOHST was born on February 4, 1838, in Mecklenberg, GERMANY, where he was taught the carriage-maker's trade. In 1866 he left his native land for New York City and a half year later was reunited with his brother John in Oakland. The firm of Sohst Bros. operated the Pioneer Carriage Factory at the northeast corner of Eighth and Franklin Streets.(Wood, p. 979)
JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM SOHST was born at Warin, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, GERMANY, in 1837. He worked in Sandusky, Ohio, for five years after coming to America in 1854. By 1859 he was located in Oakland where he obtained employment at the Pioneer Carriage Works. Before long he and his brother were in charge of the place and eventually they owned it. Mr. Sohst was a member of the City Council from 1874 to 1877. He helped to organize the Oakland Turnverein Society, was a member of the Deutcher Club and a director of the Altenheim. (Bay of San Francisco, vol. II, p. 673) (Guinn, vol. II, p. 434).
VALENTINE STILL, a native of GERMANY was buried. in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, on September 10, 1869, at the age of 50. (M.V.C.)
WILLIAM STRATMEYER came from Suhlingen, GERMANY where hc was born on July 29, 1838. He lived in California after 1859, at 1310 Chestnut Street, Oakland and was the owner of a cigar store. There were no children to survive him. (Altenheim Files)
F. W. STROMBERG was born in Westphalia, GERMANY, on February 16, 1852 and he arrived in Oakland in 1870. Ho owned the Oakland Bottling Works, which he sold in 1901 and went into the insurance business. This business, together with a remarkable memory, gave him a store of information about GERMAN-born pioneers of Oakland. Despite total blindness he aided very generously and extensively in the compilation of material for these pages, and appreciation of this courtesy is gratefully acknowledged. At the age of 86, he is living with his daughter, Mrs. Howard K. Rutter, in Piedmont.
CARL STULZ came from Baden, GERMANY, to San Francisco where he married in 1862. In the' late '60s Mr. And Mrs. Stulz came to West Oakland where ho conducted a barber shop. His son, Henry Stulz, is employed in the tax collector's office in the City of Oakland. (F.W.S)
ROSE TRESLER was born in GERMANY Buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Oakland, in June, 1869. (St. M.C.)
HENRY TUCKER, master mariner, was born in GERMANY in 1843. In the '60s he was residing in Brooklyn Township (East Oakland). (Stilwell's Directory) (M.V. C. )
HENRY TUM SUDEN: Born in Hanover, GERMANY, in l835. In 1851 the young German boy landed in America and located in the East where he worked several years for his board and $6.00 a month. The rumors of higher wages in California brought him to San Francisco in 1853. Ten years later he sold his interest in a grocery in San Francisco and opened another store in Oakland at the corner of East Twelfth and Fourteenth Avenue. As an avocation Tum Suden purchased and developed real estate properties. He also developed an express business between this city and San Francisco, selling it afterwards at great profit. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 679)
MRS. CATHERINE AHRENS TUM SUDEN, also a native of Hanover, GERMANY, was married to Henry Tum Suden in California in 1860, eight years after coming here. They were the parents of eleven children all but one of whom were born in the family home at the corner of Thirteenth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. The family became very well known in Oakland. (Guinn, vol. II, p. 679)
LOUIS WELSCHER was born in GERMANY in 1837. He arrived in California in 1868. With A. Westerman, he was proprietor of Brooklyn Brewery. His death is recorded in 1884. (Thompson and West, p. 169) (M.V. C. )
A. WESTERMAN also came from GERMANY to California in 1868. By 1870 he was located in Brooklyn (East Oakland) where he joined Louis Welscher in operating the Brooklyn Brewery. (Thompson & West, p. 169)
J..H. WESTPHAL, of Samm and Westphal, proprietors of the Bay City flourmill, situated at one time on the corner of Clay and First Streets, Oakland. His partner was also of German birth. Westphal was born in north GERMANY. (F.W.S.)
"MRS. AGNES WINKLER, native of GERMANY, 94; came in 1865; died at Oakland, Alameda County, survived by two daughters."--Possibly she was the wife and widow of the man listed below. (Grizzly Bear Magazine, May, 1917, p. 14)
JACOB WINKLER, GERMAN-born. Proprietor of a barber shop in Oakland in early days. When he grew too old to practice his trade, he became janitor of the old Grant school at Twenty-ninth and Broadway, where he was much beloved by the pupils. He is buried in the old Catholic Cemetery, St. Mary's, in Oakland. (F.W.S.)
GEORGINE WINTER was born on June 10, 1850 in Wramea, Hanover, GERMANY. She was a resident of Fruitvale (East Oakland) after 1870, living at 2358 Peralta Ave. (Altenheim Files) .
CHARLES F. WIRTH was a native of GERMANY, born in 1820. He migrated to California in 1849 and to Brooklyn (East Oakland) in l864. He operated a meat market in Brooklyn and lived until 1887. (Thompson & West, p. 169) (M.V.C. )
"CARL JULIUS ZABEL who cam here in 1850 and for a number of years mined in Amador County, died in Oakland, March 29. He was a native of GERMANY, aged 84 years."(Grizzly Bear Magazine, May 1917, p. 14)
"CHRISTIAN MICHAEL ZEH, native of GERMANY, 78; came in 1861; died at Oak- land, Alameda County, survived by two children."(Grizzly Bear Magazine, Sept. 1931, p. 34)
