Catharine F. (Diethelm) Steiner (1856 - 1928)

Born 25 Sep 1856 in Laketown Twp, Carver, Minnesota

Ancestors

Wife of Joseph Balthasar Steiner — married about 1880 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co, CA

Died 14 Nov 1928 at age 72 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California [uncertain]

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Biography

Catharine (known as Katie) was born in 1856 in Laketown Township (present day Victoria), Carver County, Minnesota. She was the daughter of Carl Diethelm and Elisabeth Fessler.^[1] Her parents were some of the first European settlers in this area and she grew up in a log cabin on her family's farm.

In May 1876 Katie was a witness at her oldest brother's wedding, (Mike), in Laketown. Shortly afterwards her parents put their farm in Mike's care and moved to the west coast. Katie and some of her siblings likely went with them. They lived in California, Oregon and Washington over the next few years. Most of Katie's maternal uncles, and their families, had moved from Minnesota to Oregon a few years earlier. Presumably, it was while they were in California that Katie met her future husband.

Katie's parents returned from Oregon to Minnesota around 1878 and began a new homestead in Big Stone County, MN. Katie and her sister Lizzie stayed on the west coast. In the 1880 census, Katie was living in the household of Emanual Bloomingdale, his wife and 6 children in San Francisco California. She was their only servant. (Lizzie was living with another family, as their chambermaid.)

Katie married Hotelier, Joseph B. Steiner of San Francisco, California and made her home with him there. (The Steiner and Fessler families (Katie's mom's family) have very close ties. Joseph came from the same canton in Switzerland as Katie's parents and one of Katie's grandmothers was a Steiner. A Steiner family (not Joseph's) lived next door to the Fesslers back in Switzerland, and two of her Fessler uncles married two Steiner sisters from that farm. Joseph Steiner may have been distantly related to her mother and it is likely her parent's sought him out while in Calif.) In the 1880 census Joseph was 35 and single, working as a Hotel Keeper in San Francisco.

Katie's marriage date is unknown. Katie and Joseph's first child was born in Sept 1881, so we might assume that they married sometime between June 1880 and Sept 1881. They eventually had 13 children, 12 of whom survived.

Her husband was the proprietor of the Helvetia Hotel at 431-433 Pine St, near present day Chinatown, and they lived at the hotel (431 Pine) from the time they married until 1888, when they moved the family to 78 Brosnan. She and Joseph had 5 children by this time; perhaps too many for the hotel. According to the San Francisco Directory, in 1895 through '97 they lived at 80 Brosnan.^[2]

From 1898 through 1918 her husband was the proprietor of the San Bruno Hotel at 1540 San Bruno Ave. They temporarily lost their home when the hotel burned to the ground in 1899 (details in news story below) but it must have been quickly rebuilt because the census was taken the following year which showed her family and 11 lodgers at the hotel's address.

The 1900 census said Joseph was a Saloon Keeper but a 1900 San Francisco directory said he was the proprietor of the San Bruno Hotel. The hotel is in the Mission District of San Francisco and they're renting this location. Although there's no occupation listed in the census for Katie, it's certain that she and her children would have played a major role in the feeding and care of those lodgers. Two of their sons are blacksmiths. (Katie's sister, Lizzie, also married a man from San Francisco and lived in the Mission District. Lizzie's husband was a blacksmith, so it's possible that Katie's sons worked with him.)

Although the Mission District was severely damaged in the great 1906 earthquake, their building survived. The directories continuously show them living at the hotel, both before and after the quake. In the 1910 census Katie and Joseph have 14 male lodgers. Joseph's occupation is Inn Keeper. Although they're still renting, Joseph is working on his own account, meaning he owned the business, but not the building. Two of their son's occupations in 1910 perfectly demonstrated how fast the times were changing. One is a blacksmith at a carriage shop and the other is a chauffeur in an auto factory.

They lived at the hotel for the entire 20 years that her husband ran it.

In 1920 they left the hotel business and Joseph returned to cabinetmaking, a career he'd done when he was young. They bought a pretty little house at 2747 Bryant Ave., San Francisco. (This house is still standing and a street view can be seen in Google maps.)

Her husband passed away in 1925. Katie passed away November 14, 1928 at age 72.^[3] She is interred with her husband at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, CA. Two of their children, Antone (1887) and Theodore (1941) Steiner are interred together beside them.^[4]

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News Article

San Francisco Call - Jan 30, 1899 (Story in many papers. This is most detailed report.)

FIRE CLAIMS TWO HELPLESS VICTIMS

An Aged Cripple and a Little Child Burned to Death.(Headlines combined for 2 different fires. 1 died in the hotel.)

The Old Man Left to His Fate by Excited Friends.

Heroism of a Boy Who Saved Baby From the Flames.

The San Bruno Hotel, an old landmark on the San Bruno Road, became food for flames shortly before the noon hour yesterday. An old man named Matthius Eichorn, who served in the capacity of a porter about the place, was hemmed in by the elements of destruction on the second story and perished before it was even known that he was in the building. A lodger named Kansauer leaped from a third-story window and was severely, though not fatally, injured.

The hotel was a three-story frame building and was run under the managment of Joseph Steiner. About half-past 11 yesterday morning fire started in a room on the second floor occupied by his children as sleeping apartments. After its discovery it gained headway with almost incredible rapidity, and soon flames were crackling in every part of the structure. As soon as it was known that the place was ablaze every one rushed pellmell through the lower part of the building without giving a thought to the ones who might be on the upper floors. A baby about 1 year of age was rescued by the heroic efforts of little Theodore Steiner, who made his way through the thick smoke and flames to a room where the child was sleeping, and carried it to the door below. The youngster is but 8 years of age, yet ventured into the building when the stairway creaked under his weight and when the fire lapped the walls around him.

Neighbors who were first to reach the scene asked the people in charge of the place if there was any one in the building. In their excitement they forgot old Matthius Eichorn and replied no. He was left to his fate until it was too late to render him any assistance. He was nearly 80 years of age and a cripple. His back was bent and his limbs were partially paralyzed. It is possible that he had sufficient time to escape, but his feeble condition prevented it. The room occupied by him was on the second floor in front. After the fire had left nothing but the framework of the old building erect his body hung across the charred rafters in sight of the firemen and finally fell through to the ground floor. It was burned beyond recognition and only a portion of the head remained; the limbs were entirely gone.

Henry Ransauer, an employee of the California Glue Works, was the only person on the third floor when the cry of fire was raised. When he bolted into the hall he found that it was already filled with smoke, and, thinking that there was no possible exit, rushed back into his room. He then lost his head and leaped from a window. He alighted on the roof of a shed a few feet above the ground and was picked up and taken to the receiving Hospital. He was injured across the chest, but not internally. He will recover shortly. While the fire was at its height a box of cartridges exploded and bullets whizzed in all directions. One of them passed within an inch of Police Sergeant Blank's head and imbedded itself in a fence across the street, while others made the crowd scatter.

Engine 13 was the first to reach the scene, but the firemen seeing the hopelessness of trying to save any part of the structure, turned their efforts to saving property in the vicinity. It was a hard fight and several firemen were badly burned in the attempt. Assistant Chief Fernandez was burned about the hands and Firemen M. Wright, J. Cheseney and Fred Wood of Truck 7 were scorched about the face.

The loss is estimated at about $3000 of which $1500 will be recovered by insurance. The building is owned by Mrs. Theresa Krager (Dick Cunningham according to the Los Angeles Herald) and is located at 1540 San Bruno Avenue. It was built years ago and was raised one story about three years back. It has always been occupied as a hotel and the rooms, there are about twenty, are always occupied. It is fortunate that the fire did not break out at night, for it is almost a certainty that most of the occupants would have become victims of the flames.

Matches handled carelessly by some of the younger children are supposed to have been the cause of the conflagration.

The body of Eichorn was removed to the Morgue. He was a native of Sweden (Switzerland according to another report) and is a distant relative to the proprietor of the place.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ DOB Dec 25, 1856 per: Familysearch.org Family Tree.
2. ↑ All San Francisco Directories found online via San Francisco Public Library at http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=2000540401
3. ↑ "California Death Index, 1905-1939," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKSM-6GMN : accessed 27 September 2015), Catherin Steiner, 14 Nov 1928; citing 59099, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
4. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=108317775&PIpi=122792443
5. ↑ CDNC California Digital Newspaper Collection http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18990130.2.163&srpos=7&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22San+Bruno+Hotel%22-------1

Find A Grave: Memorial #105287348

Disclaimer

Since some of this information comes from other people's unsourced family trees and can't be verified for accuracy.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Pat Quinn for starting this profile.