Santa
Clara County
Biographies
CAPT. CARL CHRISTIAN SCHNAUER
Following upon a seagoing career
of forty-two years, Capt. Carl Christian Schnauer
came to Santa Clara county in 1896, and has since
lived on his finely equipped ranch of thirty acres near Santa Clara. All that
modern ingenuity can suggest has been added to make this an ideal home, and the
erstwhile mariner finds in his fruits and flowers, gracious neighbors and
peaceful surroundings a grateful contrast to the storm and stress and adventure
to which he has been accustomed. His land is entirely devoted to prunes, and he
has a dryer and packing houses, and all modern general improvements.
Captain Schnauer
inherits that love for the sea which has been imbedded in the heart of the
Danish nation for centuries. He was born in Denmark February 22, 1846, the
second of the two sons and one daughter born to his parents, Carl and Henrietta
Schnauer, also born in Denmark. His father was a
weaver by trade, making the meager wages of the people who plied their trade
ere machinery revolutionized it, and it became necessary for his children to
consider the importance of earning their own livelihood above
that of acquiring an education. Carl Christian was fourteen years old when he
shipped in the bark Napoleon as a cabin boy, and in this capacity he visited
the majority of the great seaport towns of the world, acquiring a broad
knowledge of nautical affairs. He came to San Francisco first in 1863 and
shortly afterward was shipwrecked in the Benicia straits. Next he became
boatswain on the Ivanhoe and went to South America and New York, sailing from
here for a few years. Later the captain took the Ivanhoe to South America.
Captain Schnauer then came to San Francisco via
Panama and in 1873 he was made commander of the schooner Osceola. From that
time on his fortunes brightened perceptibly, and he not only commanded, but
built and owned ocean crafts, including the Ida Florence, Fairy Queen, Ida Schnauer and Jessie Nicholson. The Wrestler, a stanch boat built many years ago, is still running, but the
Harvester, equally promising and costly, was lost at sea. Captain Schnauer also built the four-masted
steel ship John Ena, and he is still the largest
owner of the same, which now plies between New York and the Orient. The Ena is a barque of twenty-seven
hundred tonnage, register length three hundred and twelve feet, breadth
forty-eight feet, and depth twenty-two feet. As will be seen from the
dimensions, it is a boat of which any owner might be proud, and compares
favorably with any of its kind which sails the seas.
Captain Schnauer
has never had time or inclination for political aspirations. He has voted
comparatively few times in his life, but has then shown a preference for the
Republican ticket. In San Francisco he married Eleanor Nissan, a countrywoman,
who came to America from Denmark shortly before her marriage. Four children
have been born of this union, Uno, Ena, Roy and Carl
C., Jr. Captain Schnauer is a typical mariner, having
the voice and manner of one accustomed to implicit obedience. His sterling
traits are appreciated by his many friends on land, as they were by those who
sailed the main with him and heard his voice above the roar of the tempest. He
was a successful captain and vessel owner, and success has not deserted him
though turned into quieter and more gracious channels.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 1256. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.