Biographies
AUGUSTIN E. COOLOT
Among the pioneer families of Sacramento
that have taken a very important and influential part in the commercial and
social affairs of the city, mention should be made of the Coolot
family. The founder of the family in California was Anthony Coolot,
an Austrian by birth, but after 1850 a resident of the United States. Born
November 19, 1821, he received a superior education in various European cities,
after which he spent some time in Algeria, his residence there bringing him
into close association with the French people of that country, so much so in
fact that he was always taken for a Frenchman himself. Becoming imbued with a
desire to come to the United States he crossed the ocean and first settled in
New York City, but the location did not prove congenial on account of his
associations with people of the south. Going to New Orleans he secured
employment as clerk in a large glass and crockery establishment, in which
business he had served an apprenticeship in Europe. From New Orleans he set out
on a tedious but uneventful trip around the Horn on the Yankee Blade, which
brought the young man to the harbor of San Francisco during the year 1854 and
from the coast he proceeded to Sacramento, thence went to Nevada county and
began to mine near Moore's Flat. The mines, however, did not produce profitable
returns and at the expiration of six months he returned to Sacramento, where he
secured a position in a glass and crockery store. For two years he remained
with the establishment, but then resigned in order to embark in the general
variety and notion business, in which line of endeavor he met with excellent
results. Subsequently he embarked in the wholesale cigar and tobacco business,
which he carried on until his death in 1900.
Mr. Coolot went
through the fires and floods of the early days. It should be stated that
previous to the fire he had erected a brick building at No. 812 J street and it was this structure that arrested the progress
of the fire of 1862 and helped to save a portion of the city. He was a staunch
supporter and friend of Sacramento and when the attempt was made to remove the
city to Sutterville he fought the attempt, and though
he received flattering offers, nothing would induce him to desert the city of
his adoption, in which he had such abiding faith. He was one of the original
subscribers and stockholders of the Central Pacific Railroad and always a
liberal supporter of enterprises that he deemed for the betterment of the
people and the building up of the city. He was a ready and willing taxpayer and
was very enterprising and public spirited, although very modest and unassuming,
and all of his donations and charities were accomplished in an unostentatious
manner. After he became a naturalized citizen he voted at general elections,
but never allied himself with any political party, being independent in his
attitude toward national issues and governmental problems. Throughout his
entire life he remained a loyal adherent of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Coolot was
married in Sacramento in July, 1861, to Margaretha Sommer, a native of Bavaria who had come to California by
way of Panama in 1860. She became the mother of three children, two of whom
were daughters, Mary Antoinetta, deceased; and Mrs.
Clara Louise Diepenbrock, one of the cultured women
of Sacramento. The only son, Augustin
E., was born in the year 1867 and to him were given the most select
educational advantages the city of Sacramento then afforded. From 1876 until
1885 he attended the Sacramento Institute conducted by the Christian Brothers.
Upon the completion of his course of study he began to assist his father in the
cigar and tobacco business, and continued in the establishment until his death.
Meanwhile, upon the death of its founder in 1900, the company was incorporated
with Augustin E. Coolot
president and Mr. Diepenbrock vice-president. For two
years, until the dissolution of the company, the business was conducted as a
corporation.
Removing to San Francisco in 1902 Mr. Coolot embarked in business in that city, but the great
fire of 1906 wiped out the business. Thereupon he returned to Sacramento
and organized the Aristo Mineral Water & Siphon
Water Company, which has maintained a prosperous development and a steady
growth. In this concern he fills the office of treasurer. As a business man he
has displayed much of the keen discrimination, untiring energy and resourceful
ability that brought success to his father. Unlike him, however, he has taken a
warm interest in public affairs as a member of the Republican party and a staunch believer in its value to the country.
His marriage took place in Sacramento January 8, 1902, and united him with Miss
Rebecca Maude Elliott. The only child born of the union died in infancy. The family are generous contributors to the Roman Catholic
Church and Mr. Coolot has been a sincere believer in
its doctrines throughout life, having been reared in that faith. The Young
Men's Institute of Sacramento has his name enrolled in its membership and he is
also influential in the local work of the Benevolent Order of Elks.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 1053-1055.
Historic Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.