Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN RUEDY
JOHN RUEDY, proprietor of the Fifth Street Hotel, is a native of Switzerland, born at the village of Gachlingen, Canton Schaffhausen, on the 15th day of August, 1860, his parents being Andrew and Lizzie (Hepp) Ruedy. He was reared and spent his early boyhood days at the place of his birth, and there received his education. At the early age of seventeen years he started out to make his own way in the world, leaving home and coming to America. In this country he located at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he worked at any employment he could find, and was part of the time engaged as butcher, as cook, or as farmer, etc. He next went to St. Paul, Minnesota, thence to Chicago, from there to St. Louis, and then back to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. In 1882 he crossed the continent to California, locating at Oakland. In 1883 he came to Sacramento, and became engaged as clerk in the Mechanics’ Exchange Hotel, which position he held until August 15, 1885, when he became proprietor of the Fifth Street Hotel. This hotel was started under the name of the Helvetia House, with John Korn as the first landlord, about 1876. In 1884 Frank Schuler became proprietor, and another story was added to the building. John Tackney came next as landlord, and he was followed by the present proprietor. Mr. Reudy has ample accommodations for seventy-five people, and his house has a favorable reputation as a home hotel. Mr. Ruedy was married in this city on the 14th of August, 1885, to Miss Mary Kuechler, a native of Switzerland. They have two children, viz: George and Chris. Mr. Ruedy is a member of Schiller Lodge, No. 105, I. O. O. F. In closing this sketch of Mr. Ruedy it is well to state that his life offers a lesson to many young men of to-day. Having to battle with the world for himself from the time he was a mere boy, and that, too, in a strange country, having a language new to him, he is already in his fourth year of business for himself, and is in a prosperous condition. He has made his real start right in Sacramento.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Pages 747-748. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.