The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-11
oFSAN FRANCISCO
MEN AND EVENTS
INTHE FIFTlES.
BY LD55r(J(oG(

held on one corpse IN oiden times.
There are no castles at this end of the
City" ventured to say.
81 REFER" continued the colonel, "to that
brick building on the corner of Stockton
and Chestnut streets, adjoining the one on
which see the sign, 'Toland Medical Col
lege.'"
"Why, that's the Home for the Care of
Inebriates, f" said to him, wishing to en-
Tighten him. By that time we stood oppo-
site the building which for so many years
has been a house of restraint for those of
almost unconquerable passion for strong
drink.
81 will not dispute what you say" con-
tinued the colonel. "but my recollection of
the old structure is that it is as it
was when I knew it, except that some
bay-windows have been added, also a
long fight of stairs, so that the building
now has modern appearance. AT that
time the street was up to the level of the
ground floor and it was known as 'Pfeiffer's
Castle Pfeiffer had quite history. When
he was about Is years of age he started
across the plains from the East bound with
a party for Oregon. This was in 1912.
latter the party had been out some time
and had endured the hardships OF a trip
over the almost trackless territory the
members of it became divided on one point,
and that was as to where it should pro-
coed. Some wanted to go to the original
point of destination. while others wanted
to go to Santa Fe, and there were others who
wanted to go to California which was then
but little known, still talked of. Those
who favored California were of the opinion
that as it was new country 1t certainly
must be.a good one to locate in. The re-
suit was a split up, one half of the party
deciding to go to Santa Fe young Pfeiffer
electing to go with that crowd. The others
headed for California, but were deferred by
a trapper, who told them that they would
perish in the SHOWS in the Sierras if they
attempted the journey, for winter was ap-
preaching and travel was very slow in
those days. They decided to keep right
on for Oregon.
at was not long before the other half of
the party turned about and headed for
Oregon. When that party arrived there
Pfeiffer fell in with some missionaries, l
believe, and took great interest in books,
particularly scientific works. His mind
seemed to run to inventions, and he was
always trying to invent something that
would bring him great fortune. That
seemed to be his ambition even when
knew him in the early fifties. While in
his northern home he frequently heard of
California, and he was seized, as he told
me, with a burning desire to see the coun-
try, so he got an opportunity to come here
on a vessel belonging to the Hudson Bay
Company that was coming down, for hides
and tallow.
ITO tell the truth Pfeiffer did not like
the people of California and their ways, so
he returned with the vessel, and remained
in Oregon until the news of the discovery
OF gold again filled him with desire to
move away. With party of fortune
seekers he started to cross the Oregon
line, and after many a week of hard travel
reached the New Helvetia, as Sacra-
mento was called at the time General John
A. Suffer built his fort there. One of his
first business ventures was the purchase of
a hen and a rooster, paying $50 for the
hen and $40 for the rooster. Chicks were
worth their weight in gold in those DAYS.
That pair multiplied and in time the
chicken ranch he started paid him hand
somely, eggs being purchased at the
rate OF 81 apiece N gold dust. He secured
an adobe house from General Suffer, and
went into the business of supplying miners
with such goods as they needed, and ac-
cumulated a great deal of gold, so much,
he once told me, that he used to spread it
out on the floor and run magnet through
1t to clear it of black sand, and then shovel
1t up with an ordinary shovel into boxes
which he used to hide in holes dug inside
the adobe, or place it on top of the broad
=
Tafters that supported the roof, and when
he wanted to make deposit in his bank,
as he called it, he would take down a part
of the ceiling, place his wealth on the top
OF the wall and nail the ceiling again in its
place; but this was all done after the place
was closed and the windows darkened.
sin 1850 he married in Sacramento Ger
man girl who had come to the United
States from Wurtemberg, and had made
the trip across the plains. In 1853 he sold
out his business to come to this City and
locate. The next night the whole of Sac
ramento was swept away by fire. On ar
irving here he sought a northern location
and found it here. The knowledge he had of
the great fires that had swept over this
City, and the one in the city he left, made
him resolve that lie would build a house
that would not be destroyed by flames, so
he built this house, which is of such odd
architecture that while he was construct
ing it, people who watched the work of the
masons, asked if he was building a castle,
and that is how it came to be called fPfeiff-
er's Castle
His property extended to Francisco
street on the north. Through his land
he opened a small street, dedicated it to the
public, and called it Pfeiffer street, and
which l see by the lamppost sign is still
known by that name On the northern
end he built a large flourmiE. A portion
now used, l noticed, for dwelling purposes.
The medical college occupies g part of his
ground. The mill had capacity of 200
barrels a day. He did we'll for time, but
it was expensive to run a tiourEiill in those
days; his coal bill, he told me, was $50
day, and other expenses proportionately
high.
'"While he lived here he turned his at
tention to number of inventions, one of
which was a steamer that was to be moved
bycompressed air, but before he had COM
pleted it misfortune visited him and his.
He sent shipload of flour, valued at $780,
600. to Australia, on which he expected to |
realize handsome profit, but the ship
went down and his loss was total; then he
found Unnecessary 10 borrow money at high |
rates of. interest, and the time came when
he was unable to pay $4,000 to satisfy a
mortgage given on the castle, and in a
suit for foreclosure the property went to |
the mortgage. Then while the suit was |
pending in 1859, on Thanksgiving night, |
three of his children lay dead in his par
!or. He did not have much to be thankful |
for that year.
"After misfortune overlook him his
mind became somewhat affected, and |
while those who knew him pitied him |
they called him Cranky Pfefffer.' His |
wife, as noble and as good a woman as / |
ever knew, secured a position in the Mint. |