San
Joaquin County
Biographies
RICHARD LAUXEN
As a pioneer in the furniture
business in Stockton, Richard Lauxen held a position in the commercial world
second to none, and he deserved the good-will and universal esteem which was
accorded him for his unselfish devotion to the best interests of the community
in which he lived, and helped very materially to build up. A native of Germany, he was born on January
21, 1854, in the little picturesque town of Ulmen,
near Coblenz, a village noted for its ruined castle that stood near his boyhood
home. As a lad he was accorded the best
of educational advantages and when he was only seventeen he was proficient in
Latin, Greek and French, and was preparing for the profession of the law when
the War of 1870 materially changed his plans and he decided he would seek the
opportunities offered by the New World and California. Leaving home he sailed for America and came
direct to California, arriving when in his seventeenth year in San Francisco
and soon found employment with the firm of W. H. Heney
& Company, furniture dealers, with whom he remained for several years. In 1880 he made his first trip back to his
native land and remained about two years, and on returning located in Stockton,
arriving March 17, 1882.
Mr. Lauxen entered the employ of
Sylvester & Moye, who had a furniture store in
the Newell Building on Main Street, and who also carried on a furniture factory
of their own. In 1886, at the time of
the great boom in southern California he went south but returned to Stockton in
September of the following year.
Immediately Mr. Lauxen organized the firm of Lauxen & Catts, which
opened its door on December 1, 1887, and has been in continuous operation ever
since, his partner being George Catts, his brother-in-law. Their store was first located where Tully
& Kramm are now situated, but later they moved
into more commodious quarters next door, now the site of the Yost-Dohrmann Company, at that time being on the extreme eastern
edge of the business district.
Eventually the firm bought out the local interests of the John Breuner Company, and moved into the Hubbard Building at the
corner of Weber Avenue and San Joaquin Street, where they have maintained
headquarters ever since. With their
characteristic energy, honesty and reliability, the founders built up a
business which today has an enviable trade throughout the San Joaquin Valley
and the Mother Lode district. The
standing of Richard Lauxen as a representative businessman is shown in his
participation in all progressive movements that had for their object the
building up and the upbuilding of San Joaquin County; he was one of the
organizers and a member of the first board of directors of the Commercial &
Savings Bank, and formerly was on the directorate of the Stockton Savings Bank,
now the City Bank. His health began to
fail in 1906 and five years later he disposed of his interests in the company
of Lauxen & Catts to Mr. Catts, and for the following ten years spent
considerable time in travel; but in February, 1921, he came back into the firm,
purchasing the half interest that he had once sold. It has been said of Mr. Lauxen that he was
one of the very best furniture men in the state, which is attested by the large
and lucrative trade that he was instrumental in building up here.
The marriage of Mr. Lauxen on April
16, 1884, united him with Miss Margaret Letitia Catts, a native daughter of
Stockton and a lady well qualified in every way to be just the helpmate of a
man with Mr. Lauxen’s ambitions. Of this fortunate
union three children survive: Miss B. Lita Lauxen; Richard Lauxen, Jr., and Miss Margaret Lauxen, all of whom have
graduated from the University of California.
The son is acting as secretary and treasurer of the Lauxen & Catts Corporation. In 1892 Mr. Lauxen made a second trip back to
Germany, taking his family with him and they enjoyed a year abroad; again they
accompanied him in 1908, staying for several months. He made another trip in 1913, with his friend
of long years standing, John H. Smith, now deceased. Mr. Lauxen was active in fraternal circles
and was a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E.; took an active part in
the reorganization of the lodge in 1893, and later was president of the
building committee which erected the Elks’ Building; he was also a member of
the Yosemite Club. As a charter member
of the Young Men’s Institute he took an active interest in the order, helped
organize it in 1884, and he served as a delegate to the Grand Institute on
various occasions; and he was a member of the Knights of Columbus, where his
character and influence were welcomed.
He was a member of the Turnverein, now the Fidelity Lodge of Stockton. Mr. Lauxen was a man among men, popular among
all classes, of a kindly disposition and winning personality which enabled him
to make friends wherever he went, and when he died on December 6, 1921, he was
mourned by a wide circle who knew him as a man whose loss to the state can
never be filled.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
387. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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