Otto Schuhmann and Family: His Legacy
Born: 6/25/1858
Died: 11/21/1939
Age 81 years, 4 months, 28 days
Otto Schhmann is my main character in Sonoma history. The
reason for this is that I happen to live at the old Schuhmann Hotel. Living
here has given me a center of interest from which to work.
At first I heard little bits of sundry information about
this property, that it was a house of ill repute, that it was a beer garden, a
turkey farm, a resort. For the first few years nothing much more than this
shook out. Then by chance I met Bob Paremelee at the Depot Park Museum and
asked if he knew anything and he said “that’s the old Schuhmann Hotel”. Bob
also told me about the Bates and Evans funeral records upstairs at the Depot
Park Museum. With the name of a former owner and access to some source
material, I was off to the races. I want to thank Bob for being a mentor and
encouraging me.
The current owners were interested too and supported my
first big blast of research in which I bought time on the Sonoma Index-Tribune
historical archive online and was able to spend about a week at the County
Recorder’s Office.
Karl Otto Schuhmann was a German immigrant to Sonoma in
1907.
Alternate spellings of his name include: Schuhmann, Schumann
and Schuman. Christa Bechler of the Petaluma Hermann Sons, a native German
speaker, at first expressed surprise at the spelling Otto himself used. Schuhmann
with various spellings is a Jewish surname insofar as it is same as a number of
Holocaust survivors. (1)
Otto’s Bates and Evans funeral note says he was 32 years in
California, occupation: resort owner, born in Germany, died Buena Vista,
father: Frederick Schuhmann, religion: Protestant, date of funeral 11/24/1939
Friday 2:PM, buried in Mountain Cemetery, complete funeral $130. 00, charge to
Martha Schuhmann.
Otto’s exact age is not clear from the various records of
him. Bates and Evans have his life spanning 6/25/1858 - 11/21/1939, 81 years
old at his death. On the 13th Census in 1910, Otto Schumann was 52.
This would make him 81 years old upon his death in 1939, same as Bates and
Evans. Hermann Sons records have Otto’s birth date as 6/23/1863, which would
make him 76 when he died in 1939. The 1920 Census says he was born in 1860,
making him 79 at his death. I will stick with the funeral record and 1910
Census and ignore the other inconsistencies: he was 81 when he died.
His immigration year was 1907, at age 49. He was a hired
farm laborer in the household of Carl Dressel on the east side of Sonoma. He had
work as of April 15th 1910. In 1910 he had been married 28 years,
spoke and wrote English.
Other members of the Dressel household: Carl Dressel 58 head
of household/ vineyard farmer, Rose M. Dressel 47 wife, Juilius Dressel 20, Eva
Dressel 18, Otto Dressel 17, Gustave Dressel 13, Carl B. Dressel 13, Anna L.
Dressel 6, Otto Schuermann/ Schuhmann (surname partly illegible/ enumerator
maybe did not understand German accented English) age 52, hired man, Martha
Divine 29 servant, Corbett Cowan 21 hired man, Joseph Schallbetter 38 hired
man, Tan Ah 53 hired man, Lucy Ah 55 hired woman, Wong Ah 48 hired man, Charles
Nau 36, and William Jones 27 hired man. The Dressel household was on Napa Rd.,
dwelling #173
Given the spelling of Otto’s surname is interesting that on
the 1900 Placerville, CA Census there is a Henry Schuhmann b. circa 1858, age
42, immigrated in 1883, 17 years in the US, farmer, single head of household,
naturalized. Maybe this Henry was a brother or cousin of Otto? In 1910 Henry was still in Placerville and
still single. It seems he may have gone to Gold Country with big ideas and
ended up farming.
In 1910 and 1911 the
rest of Otto’s family came to join him in Sonoma. The family included his wife
Clara, eldest child Elsa Martha, middle son Gerhardt and youngest daughter
Johanna E. Schuhmann. That one family member would immigrate first and the rest
follow is a typical pattern and strategy know as chain migration. Chain
migration is usually associated with a founder effect; people from a family,
town or region tend to all immigrate to the same area because associates are
already established and there is a place to land.
Clara Schuhmann was born circa 1860 and died 3/25/1932 at
age 72 in Sonoma, seven years prior to Otto’s death. Elsa Martha was born in
1881 and died 5/28/1964 at age 83 years. Gerhardt was born in 1887 and died
3/12/1959 at age 72. Johanna was born 12/12/1890 and died 7/1973 in Sonoma at
82 years old.
The Otto Schumann family had some crossover with the early
families of Sonoma. He was concurrent
with Solomon Schocken et al, but he is relatively unknown historically and does
not figure much in news and history surrounding the Plaza, at least from what
I’ve found. Otto is buried in unmarked grave. Well-known Sonomans had fancy
headstones. We can surmise that Mr. Schuhmann was not well off and that he
liked to party and have a good time, as we will see from the many ads for
festivities posted in the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Otto was maybe a grasshopper
amongst ants, as in Aesop’s Fables. The history of the resort era focuses
mainly on the Springs area anyway. Otto could have been well known and liked
but simply did not make the news with anything particularly of note; he was a
lesser resort owner.
Otto and Clara Schuhmann bought 1.89 acres of the northerly
part of lot 513 from Louisa Douglas on 5/4/1912. On 1/10/1913 Otto and Clara
bought a .68 acre fraction of the same lot giving them a 2.57 acres contiguous
piece of land. It was on this .68 acre fraction that the hotel was built in
1913-1914. Later on 11/1/1937 Otto Schuhmann bought 1.5 acres immediately south
from Arthur Rambo and thereby gained the maximum extent of his holdings in
Sonoma, 4.07 acres. Otto Schuhmann
then owned all the northern portion of lot 513, north of a straight east-west
line. (2)
On 12/6/38 Otto
made a Gift Deed of the whole property to his daughter Elsa Martha. And then,
on 5/7/47 Elsa Martha Schuhmann Vanderschoot sells the northern portion with
the hotel to William B. and Grace E. Findley. At sometime thereafter the
Findleys got the rest of the southern portion from Elsa and/or Irne and Olgierd
Kulak and that was the end to the Shuhmann ownership here on 8th
Street East. (3) The Schuhmann reign lasted a mere 35 years.
Over the years
the hotel hosted many festivities advertised for in the Sonoma Index-Tribune:
admission 25 cents, games, dances, dancing contests, live music, picnics, moonlight
picnics, refreshments, festivities, lawn bowling, billiards, sandwiches, soft
drinks, coffee and so on. “Lots of shade and an open air dance platform”. The
trees providing the shade could very well be the same valley oak and California
pepper that are in the back yard adjacent to the Miss Lee Douglas building aka
the dance floor, now. There was a carriage house and smoke house out back as
well as tent platforms. (4) See also Appendix A for a chronology of I-T ads and
notes about the Schuhmans and the hotel.
By the 1920s,
with advent of the automobile, the local quarry industry began to die down. When
stone street pavers gave way to macadam, Sonoma lost a substantial part of its
economy. (5) Population began to decline for that and other reasons. Gradually
industrial agriculture moved the traditional rural means of production to the
Central Valley and small farmers, in the Sonoma valley and in America could not
compete with the mass production. The Sonoma resort industry and turn of the
century tourism, 1895-1920, foreshadowed a similar formula of today, efforts to
generate economy in an area where the prime attraction is geography, rural
attributes and Mediterranean climate. How do you do it? Sell people with
surplus wealth food, drink and lodging.
What was the
resort era like? According to Gaye LeBaron, in an 8/31/1980 Santa Rosa Press
Democrat piece: “In the halcyon days before WW2, (it was) pretty nice, at the
turn of the century, bordering on elegant.” The resort era started in 1885 when
Mr. Henry Boyes hit the hot water at 70’. The Golden Age @1900 was only 14
years before Otto and Clara built their hotel. The railroads brought in the urban
tourists; fancy weekend homes were built along valley creeks. What could be
better for the Schuhmann’s than to be right next to a rail stop at Buena Vista
Station? Says Gaye LeBaron, “the hotels were the social life. There were
elaborate picnics…concerts and elaborate garden parties.”
The list of
Index-Tribune clipping below in Appendix A gives a nice sense of the texture of
the times and the rural agricultural context. The Schuhmanns were gong head to
head with many other resorts all offering a similar fare. The bulk of the
resorts were concentrated in the Springs, with others scattered along the rail
lines from Vineburg to Buena Vista, on through town and up the valley. It
certainly helped Schuhmann’s enterprise to be right next to Buena Vista
Station. He and Hans Von Sydow, who had a store right across the street,
probably had some synergy with their client bases and they could also double up
on large food and supply orders.
The hotel and grounds were variously known as the Schuhmann
Hotel, Schumann’s Hotel, Schumann’s Gardens, Schumann’s Garden, Schumann’s,
Schumann Garden, Schuhmann Resort, Schumann Resort, Schumann’s Resort,
Schumann’s Resort- Picnic Grounds, The Schumann Resort, Schumann’s family
resort, and later: Buena Vista Hotel, The Buena Vista Apartments, Buena Vista
Ranch, Buena Vista Resort.
Ron Zak, a long time resident refers to the place as ‘El
Paradiso’. It is nice, private, with a big yard, shade. The hotel is a cool
building with lots of character. See essay of personal remembrances and file of
current photos to get a sense of the scene today. The hotel is three-story and originally 12 room.
Notable features: redwood framing, lathe and plaster walls, ornamental redwood
wainscoting, double hung 6’ x 3.5’ wood casement windows with lead weights and
wavy glass. At one time the windows were painted bright red. The first and
second floor ceilings are 10’ 3” high. The original gutters were made of wood.
Lot 513 where the hotel is built is bordered by Arroyo Seco
on the east, Napa Street on the north, 8th Street East on the west
and France Street on the south. The northern portion of lot 513 is what is
relevant to this project. The southern
portion is all industrial parks now. The portion now occupied by Sonoma Door
and Sash et al was once part of the former Schuhmann property but was sold in
the 1970s.
Clara Schuhmann, wife of Otto, was born @1859-60 and died
3/1932 at age 72. Her immigrant year was 1910. She could read and write. Like
all the others she was a member of various lodges and joined the Hermine Lodge
#27 on 1/1925.
Clara was the first to die. Members of the family found her
dead in bed at the resort in Buena Vista. A 4/1/32 Index-Tribune note: Card of
Thanks for flowers sent at funeral of Clara Schumann, signed Otto Schuhmann,
Martha Shuhmann, Gerhard Schuhmann and family, Mrs. Phillip C. Bill, and family.
At the time both Gerhardt and Elsa were living in San Francisco.
There is a Schuhmann plot in the Mountain Cemetery, which is
clearly Otto and probably Clara also. The city 1935 cemetery map updated to
1966 shows ‘Schuhmann’ and a Bates and Evans funeral record map corroborates
the burial location. There is however, no headstone, only wood markers now
illegible. Otto died enough later than
Clara so he could have made her a headstone. For some reason he and the family
chose not to. During the Depression, they could have been broke. Otto has no
headstone either.
According to the I-T Clara Schumann obituary, the Schuhmanns
were at the Buena Vista location “for almost 40 years” since 1932 or circa
1892-94, yet Otto did not arrive until 1907. Fred White owned lot #513 in 1898,
Miss Lee Douglas after Fred White. Conclusion: you can’t take newspaper
comments at face value, as this comment is 13-15 years off the mark. Multiple
lines of substantiating evidence are necessary before arriving at hard
conclusions about the hazy past.
Gerhardt Schuhmann
barely made a mark. His immigration year was 1911. He was married to woman
named Pearl Leona Schuhmann who was born in California. Pearl was born 10/9/1885 and died 10/22/47. She was possibly the former Pearl Paterson of Alameda who
was married to Francis Paterson in 1910. Pearl was one year older than
Gerhardt. On the 1920 Census Gerhardt lived on lot 513, probably in a cabin on
the property; he is a renter, he can read and write and he and Pearl have a 14-year-old
household member named Gustaf Wolf whose father was born in Sweden. Gerhardt
and Pearl are listed as Gustaf’s parents. Pearl was possibly then previously
married to a Swede named Wolf who died and then she married Gerhardt. Gerhardt
is buried in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park; that’s about all I have on
him. He does not seem to figure much in the hotel and resort. On one census
Gerhard was listed as a farmer.
Elsa Martha (Schuhmann) Vanderschoot, was the eldest child.
Born 1881 and died 5/28/64 at 83 years old; immigration year somewhere between
1910 and 1911. She seems to have inherited the property and hotel through
primogeniture. I have the feeling that Gerhardt had moved to the city, and
since Johanna was all set with Philip C. Bill, Otto gave everything to Elsa
because she needed it the most. When the will was contested later on, it was
probably by Gerhardt. The contestation of wills is fairly common among siblings
and in-laws but it is details like these and others that are lacking in
developing a deeper sense of the family.
To give some over-all time perspective: Otto and Clara
Schuhmann are analogous to my great grandparents, about whom I know only the
sketchiest of details. The Schuhmann’s children are analogous to my
grandparents. The Schuhmann’s grandchildren are analogous to my parents. This
leaves a lot of time and detail gone by that will never be recovered unless I
somehow stumble on a Schuhmann family historian that is privy to inside stories
and details.
For about 9 years Elsa Martha was the owner of the Schuhmann
empire during which time she either managed the hotel herself, or in
conjunction with the Kulaks and the Cleaver-Welches. (see essay and list
describing the title history)
Elsa Martha married Felix .J. Vanderschoot in 1941 in Reno
at @ age 60. At this time she moved her base to Napa and probably became an
absentee owner, likely leasing at that point. Felix .J. Vanderschoot was born 2/28/1907 and died 12/27/90. I did
have some contact with his descendants but nothing further. Elsa Martha married
late in life. She had no kids of her own that I know of. She was a stepmother to Felix’s grown
children.
5/28/64, funeral services Wednesday May 20th in
Napa for Elsa M. Schuman Vanderschoot who died Monday at a Napa nursing home at
age 83, native of Germany, came to Sonoma as a child, “her father operated the
Vineberg Inn for many years”. The Vineburg Inn, since burned, was on the NE
corner of Napa Rd. and 8th Street East. This is certainly a misprint
confusing the Schuhmann Hotel with the Vineburg Inn. Even 25 years after the
fact details start to fade away.
Johanna E. Schumann Bill was born 12/12 1890 and died in
Sonoma either in 1972 or 7/73, at 82 years old.
The mark of a desperate historian: her social was 558-21-1351. A full accounting of Johanna can be read in
the Philip Bill essay.
As mentioned, the Schuhmann Hotel was built in 1913-14,
(5/2/14 I-T). They had a run of about 6 years before Prohibition, which lasted
13 years from 1920-1933. The Great Depression overlapped Prohibition and lasted
until WW2 brought the country back on its feet economically. By this time, Otto
and Clara Schuhmann were dead. Clara died in 1932 just as the Depression was
getting started. Otto died in 1939 before the Depression was over but at least
he could finally have a drink. Elsa Martha had the hotel and property until
1947 where after she lived 17 more years in Napa before passing away in 1964.
In spite of the over-all times being hard, the chronology of
Appendix A paints a picture f an active group of people who were engaged and
did not give up on enjoying life.
Between the time Otto died in 1939 and 1947 when Elsa Martha
finally sold the whole property, Irne and Olgierd Kulak and also Joe and
Florence Cleaver Welch had a hand in co-owning, leasing and/or managing the
resort. I found a Cleaver-Welch business card tacked to a floor joist in the
basement where Joe’s name was crossed out. I guess at some point he became
persona non grata.
A Buena Vista Resort brochure produced by the
Cleaver-Welches said that they “offered home cooked meals, good old
hospitality, bowling on the green, outside dance floor etc.” The brochure has a
family oriented tone but also mentions offering massage, frequently a code for
prostitution. Other valley resorts offered massage as well.
Local lore and rumors persist that during WW2 era the
building was a house of ill repute; men from the Mare Island shipyards would
take the train on over. There are possible pictures of girls on the front
balconies but these have never been produced. This rumor is likely from after
Otto Schuhmann died as the rumors never include word of him.
Bob Parmelee says the whorehouse rumor is “way over-rated”, that
there is no reliable info to back this up. Sonoma Valley was not known for
prostitution, said Bob, but resorts would rent a cabin, or an annex to a contractor
to run a brothel on the side, it was a satellite business to the main resort
business, owners knew nothing, did not ask questions, a collateral service that
could be arranged. Cabins and cottages would be rented out, that’s how they
would do it, during the slow season, winter business, a satellite operation,
families would not see it. Owners would not want to wreck the regular business,
which was family and church oriented, from San Francisco.
Otto Schuhman was a member of the Independent Order of Red
Men, a German, California breakaway group from the Improved Order of Red Men. The
Improved Order of Red Men originated as a secret society opposed to British
tyranny in Colonial times. Otto’s son Gerhardt, wife Clara and daughter Johanna
Schumann Bill, i.e. Mrs. Phillip Bill, were all involved with the Red Men and
Daughters of Pocahontas. Other family names associated with the Red Men:
Steiner, Batto, Andrieux, Groskopf, Schrempp and Steinkamp.
Many I-T ads and clips mention the Red Men in association
with festivities and events at the Schuhmann Resort. Also mentioned is the
Albrecht Durer Lodge NO. 42 and Hermann Sons.
Red Men, and the Daughters of Pocahontas represent one lodge
society among many in Sonoma in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, others:
Woodmen of the World, Masons, Odd Fellows, Hermann Sons, Order of the Eastern
Star, Rebekahs etc. Many immigrants relied on lodges within their ethnic
communities for fellowship, support, paying in and if necessary, receiving a
type of insurance.
There
were Independent Order of Red Men ‘tribes’ and ‘councils’ in Petaluma and Napa
but no record of them in Sonoma. No Schuhmann’s are listed in official Red Men
California state records. The local groups kept their own records. Otto was a member
of a German breakaway group that never rejoined the main group by the 1920s.
For the Germans, ‘tribes’ were called Stamms. The Sonoma group was called ‘the
Bear Flag Stamm’. Joining up required some basic info and the rest of the
initiation was oral. The breakaway group used the name Daughters of Pocahontas
instead of Degree of Pocahontas for the women’s auxiliary.
At
some point Otto attended a Red Men state convention in Los Angeles.
Gerhardt
Schuhmann was the Grand Chief of the local Red Men for a time.
Hermann Sons had and has a big hall in Petaluma. Sonoma
had a chapter as well although apparently much smaller. Hermann Sons current
records show little about Otto, that he was a “restaurant owner”, an “inn keeper” and joined Hermann Sons 1/27/1924, at
age 60; he was a charter member of Lodge #49 in Sonoma. His initial membership
shows his signature. (6)
Hermann Sons have Otto’s birth and death dates different
than his Bates and Evans funeral record. According to Hermann Sons Petaluma
records Otto was born 6/23/1863 and died March or April of 1940. At Otto’s
funeral Hermann Sons paid $3.49 for flowers.
Local railroad maps from 1880 until passenger rail service
was discontinued on 8th Street East in 1941, all had a stop called
Buena Vista Station. Northernpacific Railroad freight service went on into the
1960s. Just up the street from the Schuhmann Hotel then, was Buena Vista
Station. The Schuhmann property on lot 531 fronted Buena Vista Station on the
east. There was a roofed-in shelter with
one room open and one room closed in. There was also a siding, i.e. another
track alongside the main track where cars could be parked. (7) The station was
pretty much right in front of the Schuhmann Hotel, a little south of von
Sydow’s on the east side of 8th Street East. According to Bob
Paremelee, rumor has it that trains would come up, maybe during Prohibition,
let off a car at the siding and people could buy drinks, fill gallons of wine
at von Sydow’s; the train would go on to Glen Ellen, then come back, pick up
the car off the siding and go back to San Francisco.
An undated I-T ad says: Hans von Sydow’s at Buena Vista R.R.
station, “German Beer House”, selling wine by the gallon, “bring your
container”. Von Sydow’s is the building at the current location of Sonoma’s
Best. People disembarking could easily walk to von Sydow’s, to Schumann’s, get
a carriage to Buena Vista winery or go see Captain and Kate Johnson’s Victorian
castle. One I-T ad states: “Buena Vista
Villa: one block from the depot; will meet guests; plenty of shade and
beautiful shady walks; bus to Boyes Hot Springs and Agua Caliente Springs. Open for guests all year round. Can
accommodate 70. Adults $7.00 per week; children half rates. Address Allamano
Bros., Sonoma, Sonoma County, Cal.”
And thus, like all these historical essays, I get to the end
of the line. This is my prime project and I wanted to get it finished and
catalog every last detail I collected. Somehow
I am still lacking. For all efforts to contact the family I could not come up
with one picture or any substantive reply. The level of response and watching
other local historians has led me to conclude that everyone is only interested
in what they are interested in. And I have happily been interested in this
project for a long time and I am glad I’ve finally managed to bring it to a
reasonable conclusion.
Appendix A selected items from the Sonoma
Index Tribune
5/2/1914 Expected to open in about 6 weeks is the
three-story hotel being built by Otto Schuman on the old Douglas Place at Buena
Vista Station.
7/24/1915 A genuinely enjoyable time is looked forward to at
the opening of Schumann’s family resort tomorrow, Sunday
10/23/1915 Grosses Gartenfest, Schuman’s Concert and Picnin
Grounds, given by Albrecht Durer Lodge NO. 42 O.D.H.S. of San Francisco, games
for young and old, dancing from 1:PM, admission 25 cents, everybody welcome
Summer 1917 Mayor Otto Schumann of Buena Vista and Jim Small
of Vineburg were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Meyers at Embarcadero on
Sunday last and both speak highly of their reception and the hands of Mr. Meyer
and his charming wife.
1917 Paul Gerhardt Schuhmann gets a WW1 draft number of 282
6/16/1917 Grand Outdoor Picnic of the Albrecht Durer Lodge
NO. 42 at Schuhmann’s Resort, Buena Vista, for the benefit of the sick fund,
games, dancing and fun for all, admission 25 cents, every body welcome
9/30/1917 Annual picnic and harvest festival, Auspices of
the Redmen of Sonoma, Schumann’s Resort, Buena Vista, games, dancing, contests.
Amission 50 cents, Refreshments free.
10/6/1917 Red Men annual picnic and harvest festival
celebrated. “There was music, dancing, games and feasting and good fellowship
reigned supreme. Many of Sonoma Valleys leading families were present and the
occasion was in every way a most enjoyable one.”
1/5/1918 Hotel building narrowly escapes fire from
smokehouse out back. “The resort is one of Sonoma Valley’s popular family
outing places and is filled with guests every summer.”
5/4/1918 Mr. and Mrs. Philip Bill #2 are rejoicing over the
homecoming of their daughter Florence from the hospital in San Francisco. (This
same year the Spanish flu killed between 50 and 100 million world-wide, the
young and healthy harder hit than older people.)
5/4/1918 Mrs. Schumann of Buena Vista went down last week
for a short visit with San Francisco friends.
5/6/1918 Hans Von Sydow’s Buena Vista Station, Groceries,
Gold Beer, Good Wines, Reasonable Prices, Enjoy our Social Hall! Have a Good
Time!
Hans Von Sydow’s at Buena Vista RR Station, German Beer
House, Sherry and Port $1 a gal tax incl, Muscatel and Angelica $1.10 per gal
tax incl, Sauterne .80 cents per gal tax incl., Claret .60 per gal tax incl.;
Bring you Container. We Sell grocery good at lowest prices, According to
California’s Fair Trade Act
11/16/1918 The second annual dinner of the Jolly Twelve,
whuch is a treat by the gallant husbands of the congenial club of ladies in
this vicinity, was given at Schuman’s resort last Saturday night. A fine
banquet was served aand speechmaking and music lent zest to the very pleasant
affair. Mr. E.E. Bennett acted as toastmaster and there was much fun and humor
around the table. The menu consisted of turkey and holiday dishes of every
description prepared by the Schumanns in fine style and served at a prettily
decorated table. Thirty two were present.
1920 Red Men and Daughters of Pocahontas picnic tomorrow at
Schumann’s Resort, annual picnic, a fine time is expected, there will be games
music and dancing and the usual bountiful refreshments for the picnickers. Both
lodges are noted for their hospitality and an outing under their auspices is
always enjoyable and well attended.
1921 For sale 5400 gal
water tank, staves 3” thick, breeding pigs, geese, Muscovy ducks, buggies,
surreys, wagon tongue, pigeons, geese, see Otto Schumann
6/3/1922 To Night Schuman Resort, illuminated platform under
trees, Grand Opening, The Foxy Four Orchestra. Tomorrow Picnic: games, dancing
and refreshments, Admission 25 cents
7/15/22 Gerhardt Schumann of Buena Vista is the new Grand
Chief of the Sonoma Red Men.
9/16/1922 Coming soon to Schumann’s Resort, a big garden
arty and picnic will be given by the Albrecht Durer Lodge NO. 42 of San
Francisco. The public will be welcome and a fine program of games, contests and
dancing is promised. Refreshment swill be served throughout the day.
11/18/1922 For sale 30 Indian runner ducks, drakes, 6 month
old, also young roosters, Schuhmann Resort, Buena Vista
-For sale: Muscovy ducks and pigeons, good breeding stock,
mated pairs, apply to Otto Schuman, Buena Vista
6/3/1923 To Night Schuman Resort, Illuminated Platform Under
Trees, Grand Opening Dance, The Foxy Four Orchestra, Tomorrow Picnic, games,
dancing, refreshments, admission 25 cents
6/10/1923 Schumann Resort, Picnic, dance, every Sunday,
prize bowling, good music, billiards, games for young and old, refreshments,
coffee, sandwiches etc
7/7/1923 Schumann Garden, Buena Vista, opened Sunday July 1st,
seats for 350 people, concert daily, refreshments and soft drinks. Meals
served. Dancing to good music. Entrance free.
7/8/1923 Schumann’s Garden at Buena Vista, concerts,
refreshments and dancing. Meals served. Good music. Lots of shade. Open air
dance platform. Admission free.
12/8/1923 Will kill your hogs and make sausages at your
home, Otto Schulz, at Schumann’s, Buena Vista
7/7/1924 “Great preparations are underway for the picnic
Sunday the 15th at Schuhmann’s Gardens for the benefit of starving
German children. The Red Men and Daughters of Pocahontas are giving the benefit
and are selling many tickets for the worthy cause of helping innocent sufferers
of the late war.”
4/20/1928 Bruno Gleisberg kills self with shot through
temple with hunting rifle at junction of Wood Valley and Lovall Valley Roads,
note said he do not want to be thought a coward but it was better than going
insane; “for three months he had been stopping at Schuhmann’s Resrt for his
health”. Gave part of his estate to Otto Schuhmann, was a plasterer, lived in
Sonoma when a kid, father worked at Rhine Farm.
8/17/1928 Red Men convention in San Rafael, attended by
Gerhartd Schuhmann and Johanna Bill, Bear Flag Stamm gets $25 prize and
Daughters of Pocahontas get $15 prize for increasing membership over any other
in CA
A smallish 1929 Bell Telephone phone book, for all of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake
counties, lists for Otto Schuhmann’s resort # as 164-F-4.
8/28/1931 Otto Schuhmann is delegate to Los Angeles state
Red Men convention
12/22/1933 Wanted, a woman for housework, small wages,
steady, apply at Schuhmann Resort
4/10/1936 New Officers Installed by Hermann Sons and
Sisters, Hermine Lodge president Emma Camp; treasurer Johanna Bill among
others; a banquet and dancing terminated the installation and all were highly
pleased with this fine evening in the history of the lodges
7/3/1936 Schuman’s Resort- Picnic Grounds, Free Birthday
Party Saturday and Sunday, Grounds for rent to Lodges, societies etc for
picnicking, reasonable, We cater to special dinner parties. Please make
reservations. Hungarian cooking. Otto Schumann Po Box 424, Sonoma
7/17/1936 Schuman’s Resort- Picnic Grounds, Buena Vista,
grounds for rent to Lodges, societies etc for picnicking, reasonable, We cater
to special dinner parties. Please make reservations. Hungarian cooking. Otto
Schumann Po Box 424, Sonoma
11/29/1940 Wanted: pruning work, Dave Swindler, Schumann’s
Hotel
1941 Passenger rail service discontinued along 8th
Street East.
A 1941 Bell System, Pacific Telehone and Telegraph Co. phone
book, again for Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties has Schuhmann’s resort # at
Buena Vista as 16-Y-12.
8/20/1943 For rent, rooms $3 and $5 per week, Schumann’s,
Buena Vista
5/4/1945 For rent: two room furnished cabin. Schumann’s
Resort, Buena Vista
5/7/1947 Elsa Martha Schuhmann Vanderschoot sells property
to William B. and Grace Findley; Schuhmann era ends.
1/26/1956 Pleasant three room furnished apt for rent, $40,
Mrs. Findley
3/17/1956 Fire in storeroom and home workshop of William B.
Findley, damage $800, possibly caused by wiring
3/12/1959 Brother of Sonoma Resident Laid to Rest, Paul
Gerhardt Schuhmann, brother of Mrs. Johanna Bill des at age 72
12/3/1959 Attic fire damages house on 8th Street
East, minor damage at Buena Vista Apartments, burned briefly between walls,
possibly caused by hot soldering iron temp laud aside by workman making
repairs. “The Buena Vista Apartments is a large three story building owned by
Mrs. Findley. There are 5 apartments on the first two floors. The third floor,
where the fire occurred, is not in use.”
2/18/1960 Furnished 1 bedroom front upper apartments, $35
and $45, including electric. Very pleasant. 19550 8th Street East
3/3/1960 two 3-room furnished upper apts, very pleasant and
roomy; nice front porches, rent $35 and $45 incl electricity, apply in rear
3/10/1960 3 room furnished upper apt., very pleasant and
roomy, nice front porch, $45 incl electric, apply at trailer in rear
3/24/1960 3 room and bath furnished apt. $45, apply in rear
4/14/1960 Pleasant 3 room and bath, furnished apt for
couple, Inquire rear
5/11/1961 Nce 3 room furnished apt. for couple, $45 includes
electric
9/6/1962 3 room pleasant apt., nice porch with view, apply
in rear
1/17/1963 Three room pleasant apartment, nice porch with view,
also two bedroom apt.; apply in rear, also small cottage for one person, $30
per month
1/24/1963 cabin suitable for single man
4/30/1964 Hans Von Sydow’s Buena Vista Store, Groceries,
Beer, reasonable prices, featuring Buena Vista Wines
1964-65 Grace Findley dies, the whole first floor of the
hotel was one unit
mid 1960s Freight rail service discontinued on 8th
Street East. Dimensional lumber white painted 3-story porch on hotel replaced
by natural redwood 3-story porch.
7/28/66 “Units from all three fire districts responded to
quickly extinguish a small grass fire on the William B. Findley property, 19550
8th Street East. No damage was reported. Mrs. Findley said the fire
may have been caused by children who had been playing in the area.”
1967 William B. Findley marries Eleanor Olivia Bauer, a life-long
friend of Grace Findley, best friends from childhood. Olivia and William B.
Findley lived in San Francisco, came on weekends to the little apartment in
rear of first floor, unit #2, i.e. Fred and Kim’s apartment.
10/1970 William B. Findley dies. Olivia inherits everything;
William’s children contest the will. Olivia eventually prevails.
1972 Will of William B. Findley settled, trailer goes in out
back; Olivia (Bauer) Findley moves from San Francisco to the trailer. Art
Bauer, Olivia’s son, moves to the “little house”, 19434 8th Street
East, to north of main building and directly south of Schell Vista fire station.
The main entrance to little house was north from Napa Street. Entrance to the hotel
was always from the west by the front door. Art wanted to remodel the water
tower/ tank house but the county said no. Art worked at Marin Ship during WW2
1972-76 Property was zoned rural route residential. Houses
on the next 2 lots down are condemned as part of zoning shift/county plan to
develop 8th Street East as an industrial park area. Olivia sells
three-acre lot to the south with two cabins to Pearson for an industrial park.
Cabins demolished by a tank, witnessed by Greg Ubaldi as a child. Art Bauer
signs away right of way on Napa St, Schell-Vista Fire Station goes in. Built-in
concrete septic tank put in, before the tank was made of redwood. Cabin behind
yellow house rented to Willie, maintenance man for many years, did menial labor
for Art.
12/2/78 E. Olivia Bauer Findley dies, born in San Francisco,
she was a member of the Eastern Star, survived by son Arthur Bauer of Sonoma
and two daughters, four grand children and seven great grand children. Art
Bauer inherits property.
12/7/78 Funeral services held for Mrs. Eleanor O. Findley
early 1990s, very reclusive woman who had lived in the
trailer for a number of years moves out, had newspapers over windows
12/4/99 Arthur Bauer, 85, died at home of niece Cheryll (Bauer)Powers,
Mr. Bauer, b. 10/17/14 in Fruitvale, now Oakland, was a 4th
generation Californian. He lived in little house 1972 -1999, well known by
neighbors, gave people bags of cracked walnuts. Cheryll and George Powers
inherit property. Inquiries to county as to possible commercial zoning for
19550 were given a big no by the county.
@2004 or before, by insurance company order the water tower/
tank house is torn down, worker puts a rope on it and pulls it down with his
truck, had big redwood timbers. When Cheryll was a child there was a working
windmill to fill the tank.
2007 Fred Allebach paints little house inside and out, puts
in new hot water heater, clean, paint and fix up property and cabin after each
tenant.
6/2011 Really nice, big, shady live oak cut down to north of
hotel building as part of new septic system specs.
9/2011 New roof and gutters put on main building; multiple
hives of bees taken out of attic and rafters.
11/2011 “Trailer in rear” taken out by Greg Ubaldi, son of
Cheryll Powers, ‘great grandson’ of Mrs. Findley #2 aka Olivia Bauer, taken out
as part of new septic system deal.
2014 New well slated to be drilled after existing well was
dry for 5 months during worst drought in CA history for 435 year of tree ring
records.
-include photos by Bob P., current pics
jpegs of blockboard map, map of lot 513
References
(1)
(2)
see photo of County Recorder’s Office block board map.
(3) see essays on title history
(4)
Sonoma Index-Tribune historical archives.
(5) League for Historic Preservtion, Cochran Binders,
‘quarry’
(6) see photo of Otto Schuhmann’s Hermann Sons registration
(7) John Batto says Buena Vista station was not a siding but
a station, another League unattributed citation says it was a siding
Depot Park Museum archives:
-clippings compiled by Diana Smith
-Bates and Evans Funeral Records
Personal Communication:
-Bob Parmelee
-Dave Boyd, Vineburg Post Office Postmaster
- Christa Bechler,
Hermann Sons, Petaluma,
Sonoma County Historical Atlases, 1877, 1898, at Maysonnave
House
Sonoma League
for Historic Preservation, Historical
Survey, 11/29/2008, Schumann’s Resort, parcel # 127-302-002,
residential, 6 photos
US Census 1910,
1920, 1930, 1940
Sonoma County
Recorder’s Office archives
