LEO STEPPAN

Sacramento County

Biographies

LEO STEPPAN

LEO STEPPAN.--An Austro-American who has more than made good in California, and who, since coming to Sacramento, has become a general favorite, enjoying an enviable reputation throughout city and county, is Leo Steppan, who was born in Austria on May 7, 1870, the son of Martin and Katherine (Butler) Steppan, of old German families, who crossed the ocean to the United States when Leo was seven years of age. They located near Ottawa, Franklin County, Kans., where Martin Steppan, who was also a musician, found it necessary to take up agricultural pursuits, if he would support his family after their accustomed manner of living; and now that these worthy folks are both dead, it is a pleasure to record that they sought to do their duty, in their modest sphere in life, and that they undoubtedly did make many others more comfortable and happier through their lives and good works.

Leo Steppan gave the public school teachers all that they asked of him as the price of a popular education, but he added to his curriculum the study of music, determined some day to be a real musician; for his father had been bandmaster in the Austrian army, and the son inherited from him no little genius. There were five boys in the musician-farmer’s family, and the father formed an orchestra by the aid of his sons, and they furnished the music for country dances and such local affairs. Leo Steppan also traveled with Forepaugh’s Circus as solo cornetist for four years, and then he was with a dramatic company for two years. Then he entered the service of an institution at Kankakee, Ill., as leader of the orchestra and band, and traveled with another circus when they featured the band for a season. He next located at Topeka, Kans., for a short time, and at Glenwood, Iowa, and was the leader of the band for the Institution for the Feeble-minded at Glenwood, the largest school for the feeble-minded in the world, having charge of the children’s band, which took prizes for three years, and teaching band instruments.

In 1904, Mr. and Mrs. Steppan came to Sacramento; and here he joined the 2^nd Regiment Band, and was made bandmaster under Colonel Seymour. He has also played, and still plays, in theaters in Sacramento, where he has his own orchestra and band. He usually handles the cornet, by preference; but he can play all instruments, more of less. In 1917, the “Pacific Coast Musician” said: “The State Fair closed on September 15, a blaze of pyrotechnical glory. Probably the prize contests for bands thrilled the music-lovers more than any other musical feature. Some eighteen bands participated; among these were several well-known organizations, including several Native Sons’ bands, the Naval Training Station Band of Vallejo, the Naval Volunteers’ Band of the Battleship Oregon, and the winner of the first prize in Class A, Steppan’s Concert Band of Sacramento. In all, $2,600 was divided among the winners in the several classes. The fact that the three judges were non-residents, and that patriotic sentiment naturally favored the naval bands, strongly emphasized the musical ability of the winning band, and its director, Leo Steppan. The band has a membership of fifty-five men, all but two or three being residents of Sacramento….Director Steppan elected for his selection the well-known and popular “Jubel Overture,’ of Weber.”

In Topeka, Kans., in 1894, Mr. Steppan was married to Miss Alice Heft, a daughter of Ferdinand Heft, a world-famous musician with a specialty for the violin. She studied violin under her father and others, including Ralph Wylie of Kansas City; and became a postgraduate of Highland Park College at Des Moines in 1898. After her marriage, Mrs. Steppan taught violin and orchestral instruments at the Glenwood institution for eight years. She was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Her father was a graduate of the Leipsic Conservatory and as a finished violinist did concert work and teaching. He married Marie L. Wuthier, who was of French descent; and they migrated to Dixon, Ill., where Professor Heft taught at the Dixon Normal School, and Mrs. Steppan studied the violin under her father. Mrs. Steppan is now doing professional work in music. She is leader of the Ladies’ Orchestra of the Tuesday Club, and in 1921 won the silver cup. One child, Carl, is going to school. Mrs. Steppan is a member of the Tuesday and the Saturday Clubs; and Mr. Steppan belongs to the Red Men.

Transcribed by Barbara Gaffney.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 731. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.