Biographies
GUS LAVENSON
Indicative of the genuine business ability
and purposeful energy of Mr. Lavenson is the
important commercial concern established by his unaided efforts and built up to
its present magnitude through his sagacious supervision. It was during 1877
that he opened a small shoe store on the corner of Fifth and J streets,
Sacramento. He was young and without capital, but what he lacked in means he
possessed in enthusiasm and determination. Even more important than this, he
had excellent taste in selecting shoes and accurate judgment as to the wants
and needs of customers, so that from the first he won the confidence of his
patrons. To assist him at the start he had one man, an experienced cobbler, who
took charge of repair work and also assisted in waiting on the trade. The
twenty-three years of his occupancy of the same quarters were years of growth
and slow but steady development, bringing the ultimate necessity of enlarged
accommodations for customers and for the stock of shoes. Therefore in 1900 he
removed to the corner of K and Seventh streets, where now he has twenty-two
assistants to aid him in the management of the business. With this large force
he is able to care for customers promptly, while the splendid equipment and
modern conveniences of the new establishment give him one of the finest shoe
stores in the entire state.
Born in Germany,
December 27. 1852, Mr. Lavenson came to the
United States with his parents when he was thirteen years old, settling in
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended the public and high schools until he was
sixteen years of age. Mr. Lavenson has made
Sacramento his home since May of 1869, having been one of the very first to
come across the continent over the newly completed Central Pacific Railroad.
Five years before this an older brother had come to California, where for a
time he engaged in the mercantile business at Rocklin , Placer county, but more
recently he has made his home in Portland, Ore. An uncle, Samuel Lavenson, a prominent pioneer of California, for years was
a member of the firm of Lock & Lavenson, dealers
in carpets and manufacturers of mattresses; this business was established
during 1850 and has a reputation of being one of the very oldest in Northern
California.
After his arrival in Sacramento a search
for employment brought Gus Lavenson to the firm of Peyser & Lyons, on the corner of Seventh and J streets,
where he secured work as an errand boy. His worth was soon proved. By various
promotions he won his way to a rank among the head men in the store, where
he remained for seven years, resigning in order to embark in business for
himself. In his specialty he is well informed, posted concerning every change
in style of shoe or leather, courteous among his customers,
and painstaking in his efforts to meet their wishes; with such qualities as
these success comes in the nature of things. The conduct of the business,
however, does not represent the limit of his activities, for during recent
years he has been treasurer of the Sacramento River Farms Company, an
organization incorporated in March of 1908 with the following-named officers;
Clinton L. White, president; Herman T. Silvius,
vice-president; H. F. G. Wulff,
secretary; and Gus Lavenson, treasurer. About
the time of their incorporation the company acquired considerable property from
Virginia Vanderbilt, a member of the famous New York City family of that name.
They now own eleven thousand acres of rich bottom land in the Sacramento valley
and also a part of the town site at Knight's Landing.
In order to protect their fertile land from overflow and render it available
for remunerative cultivation, they have expended more than $600,000 in
improvements and have built more than fifteen miles of levee. There is every
reason to believe that the hopes of the projectors will reach a gratifying
fruition.
The marriage of Mr. Lavenson
took place in Sacramento April 10, 1881, and united him with Miss Flora
Goldman, a native of New York state, but from girlhood
a resident of the capital city, where she is now a prominent member of the
Tuesday and Saturday Clubs. Her parents, both now deceased, were Simon and
Clara (Bien) Goldman, the former one of the
well-known business men of Sacramento during the pioneer period. Mr. and Mrs. Lavenson are the parents of two daughters, Claire and Selma
Rose. Both are leaders in athletic recreations in the capital city and are
especially prominent as expert swimmers. Nor are they less capable as
equestriennes. It is said by competent judges that they have in the west few
superiors in either art. During the summer of 1911 they accompanied a party on
a twelve days' trip through the Yosemite valley and during eight days of that
time they were continuously in saddle, making four hundred miles on horseback
with ease and speed, and returning home unwearied by the strenuous nature if
the excursion.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 942-944. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.