Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN
OCHSNER
JOHN OCHSNER,
the extensive cooperage manufacturer of Sacramento, is a native of Switzerland,
born in Canton Chafoosa, December 29, 1839, and is a
son of Michael and Elizabeth Ochsner. When he was a mere child, his parents came to
the United States, and located in Hancock County, Illinois, on a farm about
four miles south and three miles east of Nauvoo. There he grew to the age of nine years, at
that time removing to the vicinity of Fort Madison, Iowa, where he attended
school. He followed farm work until he
was seventeen years of age, when he started to learn the cooper’s trade in the
establishment of his brother Samuel, at Tioga.
In 1857 he formed one of a party of seven who went to Pike’s Peak by
team. But after two weeks there, finding nothing profitable to do, and being
out of money, he started back, making his way afoot to Tioga. From there he went to St. Louis, thence up
the Missouri River to St. Joe, and in the following fall to New Orleans. He was there when the battle of Bull Run was
fought, and shortly thereafter he went back to Tioga, Illinois. About seven months later he went to Keokuk,
Iowa, and in 1862 to Chicago, from which city he went to London, Canada. In all of these places he worked at his
trade, thus mastering its various departments.
He next proceeded to New York, where he worked until June, 1863, when he
took passage on the steamer Moses Taylor bound for California. He came via Panama, and landed at San
Francisco July 12, 1863, having been twenty-eight days on the journey from New
York. At San Francisco he obtained
employment with Scheppert, in the cooperage
department of the California Brewery.
From there he came to Sacramento, and started in the cooperage business
with Mr. C. Schaefer. He bought Schaefer
out in 1864, his place of business being where the Eagle Cracker Bakery now
stands, and directly across K street from his present
establishment, moving to his present quarters in 1865, and putting up the
necessary improvements. His business has
grown to large proportions, and he now employs from five to eight men the year
round. He manufactures chiefly tanks and
casks, and ships the product of his factory throughout California, Nevada,
etc., and as far east as Salt Lake. He also does a heavy local business, and
never fails to keep trade in a locality where he once finds a footing. Mr. Ochsner was
married in Sacramento, April 27, 1867, to Miss Mary Stillinger. They have five children, viz.: Mary Luella, John Madison, Fred Alonzo,
George Walter, and Richard Leon. Mr. Ochsner is a member of Washington Lodge, A. F. & A. M.;
of Sacramento Chapter, No. 3; Sacramento Council, No. 1, and Sacramento Commandery, No. 2; also of the Knights of Honor, and of
Sacramento Lodge, A. O. U. W. Mr. Ochsner has made his business start in Sacramento, and has
been successful in an unusual degree.
Transcribed by Karen Pratt.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. Page 572. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2006
Karen Pratt.