Sacramento County
Biographies
FREDERICK W. KIESEL
As a factor in the financial affairs and
commercial development of Sacramento the California National Bank occupies no
secondary place. During the long period of its existence it has won and
retained the confidence of a large army of depositors and has considered the
interests of customers with a loyalty unquestioned and a sagacity unexcelled.
No small measure of the steady growth of the institution is due to the
intelligent supervision and splendid judgment of the cashier, Frederick W. Kiesel, who combines keen discrimination with conservative
caution and progressiveness with painstaking forethought. The elements entering
into his character form the ideal type for banker and financier and to their
exercise is due his present standing in the banking circles of the city.
About midway between Head river bay and
Cache lake lies the railroad town of Corinne, a
village of some prominence in northern Utah, and there it was that Frederick W.
Kiesel was born February 11, 1874, into the home of
F. J. and Julia Kiesel, pioneer residents of that
section of the country. An excellent primary education was obtained in private
schools, which further enlarged his training through the high-school
studies. During the autumn of 1892 he entered Harvard College, where he
continued in the regular course until 1894, meanwhile enjoying the manifold
advantages conferred by attendance in that ancient and honored institution.
Shortly after he had left Harvard he returned to the west and settled at Sacramento,
where he gave his attention to promoting the organization of the California
winery. Being the principal stockholder in the business he became likewise its
president until he sold his interest in the business.
The association of Mr. Keisel
with the California National Bank began April 1, 1898, when he entered the
institution as a bookkeeper and later, in recognition of his superior
qualifications, he was promoted to be cashier. This office he since has
filled with recognized ability and foresight. For some years after his
arrival in Sacramento he remained a bachelor, but on the 18th of December,
1901, he was united in marriage with Miss Jane Birdsall,
one of the prominent and popular young ladies in Sacramento society. They are
the parents of two daughters and one son, Corinne, born in 1907; Phyllis, whose
birth occurred in 1910, and Robert Allan, born in 1911. It has not been the
desire of Mr. Keisel to enter upon political
activities or to seek public offices. Indeed, he has steadfastly refused to
take any part in politics whatever aside from the voting of a Republican ticket
in national and local elections. Nevertheless, he is interested in every
movement for the general advancement and particularly in those measures having
for their object the permanent welfare of Sacramento. In fraternal affairs
besides his connection in Masonry and holds membership in the Washington Lodge
No. 20, F. & A. M., Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., also Sacramento
Council and Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T., and
is also a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree, and member of Islam
Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. He is a director in the Sacramento Chamber
of Commerce and is secretary of the Sutter Club.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 815-816. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.