Franz Peter (Frank) Kreuz |
Born: 06 February 1838
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Died: after 1900
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Frank was the eighth of nine surviving children of Johannes Kreutz and Elisabeth Gillen. He was born in Bliesen.
According to his voter registration, he was six feet tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a dark complexion.
Frank seems to have been the first member of his family to immigrate to America, arriving in 1866. He became a naturalized citizen on 19 July 1871 in San Francisco, California.
Frank married Catharina on 21 July 1874 in San Francisco. She was born in 1839/40 in Bavaria.
Frank and Catharina had a child:
In 1874, Frank built (or acquired) the Russian River Tannery in Healdsburg, California, and the family moved there in October 1875. The tannery was located just south of Healdsburg on an island in the Russian River. It became the largest in Sonoma County and one of the largest in state, employing forty individuals. The tannery manufactured sole and harness leather and calf-skins. About 250 hides were tanned monthly. Most of these were used locally, although some were shipped to San Francisco and the East (Bauer, 1951, p. 19). An ad for the tannery from the 4 April 1878 Healdsburg Enterprise is shown here.
On 20 December 1878, a fire completely destroyed the tannery. The establishment had been insured for $2,500, but the policy expired on 17 December. Frank had been planning to take out a $4,000 policy in San Francisco on the 21st -- the day after the fire. The loss from the fire was about $15,000 (this would be about $265,000 in year 2000 dollars). However, the fire fighters were able to save family's adjacent home, as well as hides that were in the vats, valued at $3,000 to $4,000.
The Healdsburg Enterprise reported in February 1879 that Frank had decided to rebuild the tannery, and was receiving bids from contractors. A contract was awarded, and the work began in late February. However, a month later, he decided not to rebuild after all, and the lumber was hauled away.
The 1880 census shows the family living in the Russian River Township of Sonoma County. Apparently, his wife had been married previously; Frank F. Tilgmer, age 14, and his brother Ferdinand, age 10, are listed as stepsons in the family.
By 1892, Frank was working as a farmer, living in the Llano precinct of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. In the 1900 census, he is listed as a widower, so Catharina died between 1880 and 1900. His unmarried daughter Elizabeth was living with him. No record of his death appears in Sonoma county between 1900 and 1912, so his date of death, as well as the fate of his daughter, are unknown.
Werner Hans of Bliesen (a great-grandson of Frank's brother, Nikolaus Kreuz) has preserved four letters that Frank wrote to his siblings in Germany. One is undated, and the others are from 1874, 1875, and 1879. In them, he writes about the weather, the cost of various items, the fire, and concerns about the Kulturkampf (the struggle between German Catholics and the Prussian state during the 1870s; see Blackbourn, 1994).
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