San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CARL W. OSER
Forty-five years’ association with
one firm is the record of Carl W. Oser and one in which he can take just pride,
and now as superintendent of the shipping and grading department of the Wagner
Leather Company, he occupies a position among its most trusted and faithful
employees. Since the pioneer days of
’49, the name of Oser has been well represented in Stockton through our subject
and his father, Alois Oser. The latter was born in Baden, Germany, of a
family of high rank in that duchy. At
the time of the gold excitement in California he was residing in Missouri,
having come to the United States several years previous to this, and with one
companion he started out to cross the plains on foot in 1849. They finally reached the coast, but at the
cost of untold hardships and privations.
While going over Truckee Pass, in the Sierra Nevadas, their food gave
out and they were obliged to subsist on such foodstuffs as had been discarded
by others who were westward bound.
When they reached Stockton, Mr. Oser
was much broken in health, but as soon as he had regained his strength he
carried out his plans to go to the mines.
He went to Nevada County and mined at Grass Valley and Red Dog for a
time, but as his hopes of fortune were not fulfilled, he returned to
Stockton. He had thoroughly mastered the
jeweler’s trade before he left his native land and in 1858 he opened a jewelry
store at Stockton under the name of Schmidt and Oser, their store being located
on the Levee between Center and El Dorado streets. In 1869 Mr. Oser passed away, leaving a wife
and five children. Before her marriage
Mrs. Oser was Johanna Meunter,
the daughter of a pioneer, William Meunter, who came
via Cape Horn in 1849, his wife and children following the same route in 1850;
on their arrival they found that the father was dead; he was a victim of the
cholera, and was buried on the present site of the City Hall on Market Street,
San Francisco.
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Oser
reared her family of five children in the little home left her standing on
Fremont between Hunter and El Dorado, giving them the best education she could
in the local school. She now makes her
home with our subject and at eighty-two years of age is hale and hearty and
well posed on the early days. The second
oldest of family, Carl W. Oser, was born February 17, 1862, in Stockton, and
attended the local public schools.
Meantime, from a boy he worked at odd times assisting his mother and at
the age of fifteen he became associated with the Wagner Leather Company,
learning all the branches of the business.
In 1890 he was made foreman of the tannery and now he is superintendent
of the shipping and grading department.
His well-merited promotions from time to time are a substantial
acknowledgement of the esteem in which he is held by the heads of the company
and his long retention is in itself a high recommendation of his faithful
services.
On March 1, 1892, Mr. Oser was
married to Miss Emma Stoetzer, and one daughter, Lois, was born to this
marriage. Mrs. Oser’s
father, Henry E. Stoetzer, was born near Stuttgart, Germany, February 12, 1830,
the son of Casper Stoetzer, a manufacturer, who followed his son to the United
States and died here. Henry E. Stoetzer
was interested in railroad work for some time before coming to California in
1860, by way of the Horn. Going directly
to Calaveras County he was successfully engaged in mining at Copperopolis for
two years, when, in 1862, he returned to Germany and was there married to Miss Bernadine
Buehner, in Steinbach-Hallenberg. With his bride Mr. Stoetzer returned to the
United States via Panama, but instead of resuming mining, he opened up a
restaurant in Copperopolis, the first to be established there. In 1865 Mr. Stoetzer came to Stockton and
continued in the same business under the name of the Copperopolis Restaurant,
at the corner of Main and Sutter streets, and this was successful from the
start. In 1867, however, a fire destroyed
the building and Mr. Stoetzer then opened the St. Charles Hotel. In 1870 he purchased another hotel at San
Joaquin and Weber streets, first known as the Fairplay,
afterwards changed to the San Joaquin Hotel.
On this site in 1909, his two daughters erected a three-story building
for stores and offices, greatly improving the property. In his various undertakings Mr. Stoetzer
accumulated a competency which enabled him to live retired for twenty years
before his death, which occurred June 6, 1900, his wife surviving him until
October 30, 1907. They were the parents
of four children: Louis F., in
Washington, D. C.; Antone E., deceased; Mrs. Emma Oser and Mrs. Lena Berg.
Mr. Oser has many interesting
memories of the early days of Stockton, as he has seen it grow from a small
town to a beautiful, prosperous city, and he can well remember shooting ducks
on Banner Island, opposite Stockton. He
was a member of the old Volunteer Fire Department for many years, has occupied
all the chairs of Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., and of the Knights of
Pythias, and is a member of the Elks.
Mr. Oser has always taken an active interest in public affairs and from
1884 to 1886 was constable of Stockton.
In 1911 he was elected to the city council of Stockton, the only
Republican on the council, receiving the majority of votes in the second ward
over a very strong opponent. He served
for two and a half years, up to the time the city adopted its new charter
providing for a commission form of government.
He was the instigator and carried through the measure to build steel
sheds on the wharf to take place of the old wooden ones. This did away with having a fire boat and in
the end was a means of great saving. He
met with much opposition in this measure, but carried it through. A man of steadfast convictions, he can always
be found on the side of the community’s best interests and stands high in its
esteem. The family makes their home in a
beautiful residence at 607 North Lincoln Street.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
756. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases