EDWARD HENRY KRAUS

Sacramento County

Biographies

EDWARD HENRY KRAUS

EDWARD HENRY KRAUS.--A very popular executive, whose proficiency has enabled him to render the most efficient service, and whose willingness to place his talents at the disposition of others has surrounded him with a group of devoted friends, is Edward Henry Kraus, the experienced custodian of the Native Sons of the Golden West Building. He was born at Sacramento on June 5, 1858, the son of Edward and Gertrude Kraus, the former a pioneer who came out to California in 1850, to be followed to the Golden state soon after by the talented lady destined for his wife. They married at Sacramento, after which Mr. Kraus engaged in the hotel business, first at San Francisco and then, on his return to this city, in Sacramento; and in the hotel field Mr. Kraus remained, an interesting figure because of his untiring efforts to improve the hotel condition for the traveler, until 1860. After that he engaged in the nursery business, continuing to promote that branch of California husbandry until his death, on March 22, 1890. While in San Francisco, he was a member of the Vigilance Committee, and contributed his share toward the maintenance of law and order at a time when the failure of patriotic citizens of good red blood, such as he, would have left the public and the most cherished of institutions at the mercy of the merciless mob.

Fortunate in the heritage of a good name, Edward Henry Kraus attended the public schools and Atkinson’s Business College, and on October 25, 1875, he entered the service of the Central Pacific Railroad. Here he was apprenticed as a car-finisher, and established a record for ability and fidelity.

Mr. Kraus had always been prominent among the Native Sons of the Golden West; and when that popular organization decided to erect its building, he was made president of the Native Sons Hall Association of Sacramento, Incorporated, which position he has filled with signal ability and most commendable devotion since 1906, his term of office being rendered locally notable in the erection, by the Native Sons, of an edifice costing $200,000. He has always been enthusiastic about the work of the Native Sons, and this interest has doubtless been stimulated by his personal associations with notable people in the past. Among his recollections, always entertaining to others, are impressions of Marshall, the original discoverer of gold, with whom he shook hands far back in 1884. He has also been fond of outdoor life, and is fully appreciative of the attractions of California, and particularly of Sacramento County. A bachelor still, Mr. Kraus finds his social enjoyment, outside of the Native Sons, with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is a member.

Transcribed by Patricia Seabolt.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 376-379. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.