San Francisco County
Biographies
FERDINAND
A. HABER
FERDINAND
A. HABER, prominently connected with the wine interests of California, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1839, and is
descended from French, Spanish and German ancestry. His father, Abraham Haber, was a leading
merchant in New Orleans, was prominently
identified with the financial and commercial interests of that city, and died
in 1888 at the age of eighty years.
Ferdinand
A. Haber was reared and received his education in the South, partly in New Orleans, New York and partly in the
Military Institute of Kentucky, where he prepared to pass examination for West Point. On account of physical reasons, however, he
followed the footsteps of his honored father in commercial pursuits, and
remained in the city until the Rebellion.
He enlisted in the First Regiment from Louisiana, served all through the
war with honor and returned to New Orleans in 1866. Receiving a fortune from his father, he
engaged in business extensively and became prominently associated with the
business and commercial circles of that city.
He was elected chairman of the executive committee of the Chamber of
Commerce, the only legislative body in New Orleans during the carpet-bag rule,
and, upon his resignation came to the Pacific coast, and was the recipient of
many handsome testimonials and resolutions.
Mr. Haber came to California in 1876 and engaged in the stock business
for several years, during this time making a fortune and losing it. In 1880 he engaged in the California wine
business, and since that time has labored assiduously to bring that business up
to a high standard; indeed, there is not a representative of the wine interests
in California who has done more in that direction than Mr. Haber. In 1890 he
accepted the management of the well-known Inglenook Vineyard, belonging to
Captain Neibaum, at Rutherford, Napa county (although identified with it since
1884), or rather the management for the marketing of its output. Giving his whole attention to the work, he
opened up a fine market for the Inglenook wines and brandies all over the
world, his name being as well known to the leading representatives of vineyards
in France and America as it is in California.
On the first of last January Mr. Haber opened business on his own
account as well, and lately has taken the commodious store at No. 122 Sansome street, San Francisco, which he has fitted up
in Luxurious elegance, replete with “articles de vertu” and wine lore, a
fitting adjunct to magnificent “Inglenook.”
Mr.
Haber is a man of generous impulses, is a linguist, well-read and possesses a
cultivated mind, finding his greatest pleasure in home life. He was appointed by Governor Waterman
commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1889 for California, and although Mr.
Haber takes a lively interest in public affairs has eschewed politics,
notwithstanding many tempting offers.
Transcribed by Donna L.
Becker
Source: "The Bay of
San Francisco," Vol. 2, Pages
188-189, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2006 Donna L.
Becker.
California Biography
Project
San
Francisco County
California
Statewide
Golden
Nugget Library