Butte County
Biographies
PETER OBERWEIS
PETER OBERWEIS.—The growth of Chico has been
secured by many toilers, all of whom have left a more or less indelible
impression upon some department of its growth. Among these is Peter Oberweis, contractor and builder of Chico, who was born in Bitburg, Rhine Province, Germany, on
November 2, 1857. His father, Thomas Oberweis,
was a mason engaged in contracting and building in his native country. The
mother was Margaret Peters, also a native of Germany. Both parents are now
deceased. Peter Oberweis is the oldest of four children,
and the only one in California.
Mr. Oberweis was
educated in the public schools of his native place, and, at the age of sixteen,
began work under his father, as a stone-cutter, mason and plasterer. They
worked together in Germany until 1880, when he decided to come to America. He
left Antwerp for New York and from there went to Chicago, where he worked as a
stone mason and bricklayer on the twenty-one story Masonic Temple and on other
large public and private buildings. In 1890, he established his own business as
contractor and builder, and continued at that until the time of the gold strike
in Klondyke, when he went to the frozen north. There
were ten in the party; they went via Calgary and Athabaska
Landing, up through Athabaska to the McKenzie River.
There they built two large and two small boats of whip-sawed lumber,
and, after the ice melted away, they floated twenty-eight hundred miles down
the river to Fort McPherson. From that point they alternately rowed and pulled
the boats up the Rat River as far as the divide, where they went into winter
quarters, having a plentiful supply of provisions. In the spring they went down
the Porcupine River to the Yukon River and from there to St. Michaels, whence
they took a boat to Dawson.
Mr. Oberweis
tried mining for about two months; but did not find it the success he
anticipated, so in the fall he started back to the Golden State, via Seattle
and Portland, remaining in the latter place two years in the employ of the
United States Construction Company, doing the masonry work on the United States
custom house till it was completed. In 1902 he came to San Francisco, where he
was employed as foreman of the brick and tile work on the new postoffice at Seventh and Mission Streets, under the same
contractors. He stayed here two years, when he was sent by the same contractors
as foreman of brick work on the new water works in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
remained for about eighteen months. Mr. Oberweis then
returned to San Francisco as foreman for Davison Bros., marble contractors of
Chicago, to complete the tile work on the post office in San Francisco. After
its completion, he went to Santa Cruz for McPhee,
general contractors, as foreman of their work in Santa Cruz and Monterey, and
worked for them three years. He then returned to San Francisco with Grant Fee
and superintended his brick contracting in that city for over two years.
In 1909, Mr. Oberweis
came to Chico and established his business in contracting here, in which he has
since continued. The following are some of the buildings on which he has been
engaged: The City Hall, First Presbyterian Church, the Dr. Head Building at
Fifth and Broadway, Masonic Hall, Oakdale School, the new Sisters’ Hospital,
and the De Marais Building. In Marysville he had the contracts for
building the High School, Grammar School, the Elks Building, the water works
and pumping station, the Herman Burg residence, the Northern California Savings
Bank, the J. C. Evans Building, and the wing of the
I. O. O. F. Hall; and he also built the Odd Fellows Hall at
Meridian, Sutter County.
His residence on Fifth Street between
Poplar and Woodland Avenue in Chico, was erected by
Mr. Oberweis. The architecture is of his own design. It is artistically constructed of
cobble-stones for each front, while the sides are of brick. Facing Woodland
Avenue is a beautiful electric fountain which displays the ever-changing colors
of red, white and blue. The lawn is artistically laid out, and his place is a
show place in the city.
In 1884, at Chicago, Ill., Peter Oberweis was married to Miss Annie Wagner, a native of
Germany. She died in Chicago. Two children were born to them: Barbara, who is
Mrs. Gavren of San Francisco; Joseph, a
contractor and builder at Live Oak. Mr. Oberweis’
second marriage took place in Chicago in 1897, when he was united with Miss
Annie Wolf, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, and who came to Chicago in 1894.
Mr. Oberweis is a member of Chico Lodge,
No. 423, B. P. O. Elks, and also belongs to Great Oak Camp,
No. 136, W. O. W. He is a Republican.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
05 August 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
1229-1230, Historic
Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies