San Francisco County
Biographies
EDMUND
JUESSEN
JUESSEN, EDMUND,
Mining Engineer, San
Francisco, California, was born in Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1868, the son of Edmund Juessen and Antonia (Schurz) Juessen.
He married Jennie Josephine Peabody at Lewiston, Idaho, September 22, 1895, and to them there
have been born two children, Edmund Peabody Juessen
and Jean Josephine Juessen. He is of German descent,
his mother having been a sister of Carl Schurz, the noted German patriot,
soldier and litterateur. Schurz, it will be remembered, was concerned in the
revolt of 1848-49 and was forced to flee Germany, but later returned secretly
and effected the escape from the Fortress of Spandau of his friend, Professor Kinkel. His subsequent career in America, as a soldier, diplomat and Senator,
marked him as one of the most powerful men of his day.
Mr. Juessen, who
is ranked among the leading mining experts of the United States, received careful preparation for his
profession, being afforded exceptional educational opportunities. Following the
completion of his preliminary education in the schools of this country, he went
to Europe for special study and for about eight years attended some of the
principal universities of the Old
World. He was a
student at the Austrian School of Mines, Leoben, Austria, for two years (1883-85) and then
entered the Saxon School of Mines at Freiberg,
Saxony, remaining there until 1887. In the
latter year he went to the University of Austria at Vienna, remained there two years and in the
fall of 1889 entered the University of Zurich in Switzerland. He was graduated from the latter
institution in 1890 with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
During his stay in Europe Mr. Juessen spent a great deal of time in travel and in
observation of the different countries and returned to the United States with a thorough knowledge of the various
peoples and the languages.
For a time after his return to this
country Mr. Juessen was a member of the faculty of
the University of Chicago, but his life, for the most part, has
been spent in mining work. He served the Federal Government in the United
States Geological Survey for approximately two years (1890-92), but gave this
up to go into mine engineering work, at which he has since been steadily
engaged.
During the eighteen years or more that he
has devoted himself to professional work Mr. Juessen
has visited practically every important mining section of America, his
examination and engineering work taking him from British Columbia on the North
to Mexico on the South, while he also worked in the States of Washington,
Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, California and Arizona.
Among his more important works were those
of Consulting Engineer to the Mines Exploration Company, General Superintendent
of the Decatur Mines Syndicate, Limited; General Manager of the Idaho Company
at Lewiston, Idaho, and General Manager of the Pittsburg
Silver Peak Mining Company at Blair, Nevada. This latter was one of the richest gold
properties in the State, and Mr. Juessen, as the
managerial head, had an important part in its development.
Mr. Juessen is
known as a strict disciplinarian in his work, but he also is extremely human in
his treatment of the men under him, and during his management of the Pittsburg
Silver Peak Gold Mining Company’s property, endeared himself to the workmen
because of the interest he took in their welfare. He not only made their
working conditions among the best in the mining regions of the West but also
built among the first structures after taking charge of the property, a modern
hospital. He originated a benefit system in which the company paid part of the
expenses which proved a boon to the workingmen.
Upon severing his connection with the Silver Peak interests, Mr. Juessen
was engaged for some time in special examination and exploration work and
ultimately became associated with Charles Sweeney, one of the well-known mining
men of the West, as Consulting Engineer and expert for various properties owned
by him or his companies. In this capacity Mr.Juessen
has been one of the active men in the engineering field. He is also Consulting
Engineer for Senator William Flinn, the Pittsburg millionaire traction magnate and
contractor, who has large mining interests.
Mr. Juessen,
aside from his professional standing, enjoys wide personal popularity. He is a
member of various technical and professional organizations and belongs to the
Alta Club of Salt
Lake City, Utah, and the Spokane Club of Spokane,
Washington.
Transcribed by Gloria (Wiegner) Lane.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 656, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2007 Gloria
Lane.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library