Alameda County
Biographies
CHARLES W. BREITWIESER
During the last year of the Civil war Charles W. Breitwieser located on his present farm of thirty acres, one and one-half miles east of Warm Springs Station, and has since taken an active part in the general upbuilding of the district, elevating its agricultural standard by his own example of thrift and enterprise, and encouraging by every means in his power its educational, moral, and governmental advancement. He is one of the most respected and honored of the German-Americans of this part of Alameda county, and was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, November 22, 1833. He was reared on the farm of his parents, John and Elizabeth (Lotz) Breitwieser, and is the sole survivor in a family of two sons and two daughters.
The education of Mr. Breitwieser was confined to the schools of his home district, and at the age of nineteen he shook the dust of his native land from his feet, determining to owe future allegiance to the stars and stripes. With nothing but his willingness and bright appearance to aid him, he secured a position as clerk in a New York general store, and in 1855 entered the United States army, enlisting in Company D, Ninth Infantry. With headquarters at Fort Point, Va., he was detailed to Indian duty, later being transferred to the far west to care for the interests of settlers in Oregon and Washington territories. For a time he was stationed at Bellingham Bay, Wash., then on Vancouver island, where he served as a corporal for three years. Discharged from the service in 1860 he entered upon an era of peace just as thousands indifferent parts of the country were arming for war, and in San Francisco, conducted a hotel business until 1865. The same year he purchased his ranch of thirty acres and since then has both bought and sold county and town properties, still owning several lots in San Francisco.
For the past twenty years Mr. Breitwieser has been a member of the schoolboard(sic), but has otherwise been unwilling to enter the arena of Democratic politics. He is a member of the Mission Lodge, A.O.U.W., of Mission San Jose, and is prominent in the business and social undertakings of his vicinity. In San Francisco he put away the habits of the bachelor and married Anna A. Gorhey, who owes her birth and ancestry to old Erin, and who came to America as a small child, locating with her parents in Boston. Some years later she came to San Francisco with her brother, and from 1860 until her marriage lived in that city. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Breitwieser, five sons and two daughters, and order of their birth being as follows: William Henry, managing the home place; Minnie, deceased; Margaret Adelaide, at home; Charles Edward, in San Francisco; Frederick A., in business in Warm Springs; Thomas, deceased; and John, at home.
Transcribed
7-6-15 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 677-678. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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