Biographies
EDWARD FRANKLIN PFUND
An identification with the city of
Sacramento beginning at the age of sixteen years and continuing up to the
present time gives to Mr. Pfund a comprehensive
knowledge of community resources, of natural advantages and of future
possibilities; resultant from such knowledge we find him to be a firm believer
in the riches of the valley that boasts the capital city for its center.
Destiny disguised as Chance directed his energies toward pursuits for which he
was well qualified by nature. His painstaking energy and systematic management
of detail work enabled him to make good as an assistant in the office of the
county clerk, William B. Hamilton, where he became an employe
the first Monday in January, 1893, and where he has continued to the present
writing. After he had proved his mastery of every detail connected with the
records he was appointed chief deputy and continued in that capacity until the
death of the county clerk, March 14, 1911, when he was appointed to the office.
As Mr. Pfund's
name indicates he descends from German ancestry. He claims, however, our own
country as his native land, having been born December 11, 1859 at Vandalia,
Illinois, where his father, John P. Pfund, engaged
for some years in the manufacture of confectionery and later carried on a
lumber business. Prior to his immigration to the United States in 1832 the
father had lived in Germany, where as the youngest in a family of four sons he
was excused from service in the German army through the fact that the
three eldest brothers had given them their time to military duties as required
by the government of their country. When he crossed the ocean he was young,
active and capable, and his subsequent life was one of industry and
persevering, intelligent management. During young manhood he married Juliana Vennewitz, who was born and reared in Germany, her father a
prosperous business man of that country, having furnished horses and supplies
to the army without compensation. The mother of Edward F. Pfund
had a sister, Mrs. Lippe, whose husband, a man of
large wealth, owned a number of merchant ships and engaged extensively in the
buying and selling of grain in Germany.
When sixteen years of age Edward F. Pfund came to California in company with his parents and
settled in Sacramento, where for two years he attended the grammar school. The
family had comprised seven children, but two of the sons are deceased and the
two daughters who died in early life, so that three sons are the only living
representatives of the family. The three reside in Sacramento, where William H.
is connected with a grocery business, and Bartold G.,
who formerly engaged in business in Chicago, Iil., with I. P. Farmhann, now has business relations with a prominent
Sacramento dry-goods house. Edward Franklin, who was fifth in order of birth
among the seven children, is the second of the three survivors, and was married
April 30, 1884, to Miss Mattie E. Knisley, born in Eldorado, Cal. The only child of the union, Edwina V., born
July 5, 1891, is a graduate of the Sacramento high school, class of 1912.
After having clerked for twelve years in a
clothing store owned by Charles Robin, and having risen meantime to an
important position in the establishment. Edward F. Pfund
was obliged to discontinue his work on account of ill health. For seven years
he was unable to attend to business duties, but as soon as he had regained his
health he began his identification with the county clerk's office and since
then has been able to work steadily and constantly without detriment to his
physical condition. In political views he votes with the Republican party. Fraternally he belongs to Washington Lodge No. 20, F.
& A. M., also Eureka Lodge No. 4, I. O. O. F., and Sacramento Court No. 12,
Foresters of America. As a citizen he is public-spirited, as an official
trustworthy, as a friend sincere, furnishing indeed the type of character
needed for the citizenship of the community and in the official business of the
county.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 1030-1031.
Historic Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.