Family History of the Kerr and Grote Families of San Francisco California

Submitted to Genealogy Trails by Gene Kerr Sharp

Kerr Family

The Kerr family or Clan originated in Scotland. The name Kerr is an old one, the Kerr Clan was often associated with the border country between England and Scotland. Here in this rough border country they made a living trading and herding cattle. There are many variations of the name including Kerr, Ker, Carr and Carre. These all have links to the Norse 'Kjrr' meaning 'marsh dweller' and the Gaelic 'Caer' meaning 'fortress'. The gaelic 'Ciar' meaning 'dusky' is also another possibility. As a result of extensive immigration the family name Kerr is common in Scotland, Ireland and the United States. The first Kerr in our line according to the 1870 census in America, was named William Kerr (our great-grandfather).  William Kerr’s background, exactly where he came from and who his parents were, is still unknown. 

Indeed the first definite historical record we have for William Kerr is the listing for him and his family on the 1870 U.S. Census for Kansas.  Here he stated to the census enumerator that he was 34 years of age and that he was born in Ireland.  This makes his probable birth year about 1836.  William further stated that his father was born in Ireland, and his mother was born in Scotland (no dates).  How did the Kerr’s get to Ireland?  While there is no hard evidence, we can conjecture that William’s grandfather may have come over as a British soldier.  In the early 19^th century, whole regiments of the British Army were made up of Scots.  Routinely Scots Regiments were sent by the British government to garrison restless Catholic Ireland.  Scottish troops were preferred because of their unquestioned loyalty to the Crown and their abiding Protestant faith.  When did the Kerr family immigrate to America?  We can gain some clues to the date of their arrival from the 1870 census. Here the census data reflects William Kerr’s occupation as: Sergeant, U.S. Army. In the 19^th century to become a Sergeant in the United States Army generally took a soldier some time and experience serving in the ranks. 

The 1870 census lists William Kerr as serving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and that his family in that same year consisted of his wife Jane age 21 and their three daughters Sarah 5, Mary 4 and Annie 1. Jane is listed as being born in Scotland while the three girls were each enumerated as born in Kansas. Based on the above it is possible that William Kerr arrived in America sometime before the Civil War and that he married Jane about 1865. This timeline becomes more plausible if we remember that typically regular army enlisted soldiers were discouraged from marriage until they had become a non-commissioned officer.

Fort Leavenworth Kansas in 1870 was gate way to the west, a major military installation, and was considered by the government to be of paramount importance during the Indian Wars. At Fort Leavenworth troops were trained and supplies and men were assembled for expeditions against hostile tribes further west. William Kerr and his family would know the fort and its surrounding environment well.  At the fort, their lives would have been governed by military timetables and regulations.  The children would have received their education at the post school and food and supplies would have been bought in from local merchants.  Because Jane does not appear in the 1880 census, in all probability she died and was buried at the post cemetery sometime during the ten year period preceding the 1880 census. 

The next glimpse history affords us of Sergeant William Kerr and his family is in the 1880 U.S. Census for California. Here the 1880 census enumerator recorded that Sgt. William Kerr continued his career in the Army and as of that year he was stationed at the Benicia Arsenal, Benicia CA.

In the 1880 census, Sergeant Kerr had remarried, and his wife is listed as Mary.  His family is now listed as wife Mary age 30, with children: Sarah 16, Mary 14, Annie 12, Alexander 6, William 4 (our Grandfather) and Edward age 2.  The two boys were enumerated as born in California.  William (our Grandfather) was born in 1875 in Santa Cruz, California. 

By 1880, Benicia (the former capital of California) would have been a desirable posting for Sergeant Kerr and his family because it had a thriving business environment and waterfront trade.  The younger Kerr children, including our grandfather William Kerr Jr., would have gone to school in Benicia and would have explored and played around the large arsenal and town.  In all likelihood, Sergeant William Kerr stayed on with the Army and had retired by the late 1880’s.   

After the 1880 census, the historical record for our Great-grandfather Sergeant William Kerr and his wife Mary Kerr is not available.  Unfortunately the census data for 1890 is missing and the census data for 1900 is incomplete.  The absence of historical records is the unfortunate result of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire which destroyed many California census and San Francisco’s vital records. 

We were able to find a William Kerr in the 1890 San Francisco Directory.  The early city directories were similar to the phone directories we use now.  The directory listed the names addresses and occupations of most males and some of the female residents.  A William Kerr is listed in the 1890 San Francisco directory as residing at 901 Battery Street, San Francisco.  We think that this William is our great-grandfather William Kerr.  This conjecture is based on the fact that this listing also gives his second residence as Santa Cruz.  We surmise that William Kerr senior (our great-grandfather) had a business hauling produce and/or other goods from the Santa Cruz area to San Francisco after he left the Army.  At least four other individuals are listed in the 1890 San Francisco Directory as working for William Kerr at the Battery Street address.  It makes practical sense that if William Kerr was hauling goods from near Santa Cruz that he would have to have a place to stay at his destination since he would have been hauling by horses and wagon (hence his stated occupational title of ‘teamster’).  He most likely would have journeyed back to Santa Cruz with a full load of some type of goods as well (beer?).  We also think that our Grandfather, William Kerr Jr., worked for his father in the hauling business and this is based on his stated occupation on a later census.  

Based on the above that our Great-grandfather William Kerr had a business hauling produce to San Francisco, it also follows that he could have done business with the Grote Family.  The Grote family according to the 1890 San Francisco City Directory ran a grocery store at 330 Vallejo Street, San Francisco.  Frederick Grote‘s occupation in the 1890 Directory is shown as: Groceries and Liquors.  William Kerr’s San Francisco residence on Battery Street and the Grote’s grocery store on Vallejo Street were only one block apart.

The 1910 census lends credence to this conjecture as it lists our Grandfather William Kerr Jr., as married to Louise, and further reflects that his occupation in 1910 was “teamster”.  They both stated that they were married for 11 years making their wedding date about 1900. We think Williams’s occupation as a teamster was based on him working in his father’s hauling business.  We realize that evidence for this is not direct but given the surviving facts it is appears plausible.

The next census we found is for 1930, and it shows the Kerr family living on Jackson Street, in Oakland.  William Kerr’s occupation at that time is shown as “Longshoreman”.  The family in 1930 is: William 56, Louise 50, Fred 21, Margaret 18, Clara 14, Louise Grant 25, and Clara Grant 5.  Fred’s occupation is shown as “Engineer, Electric”.  Margaret is listed as a “Milliner” and Louise Grant is shown as “Telephone Operator”.  Their rent on Jackson Street was $25.00 a month according to the census.

Photo: Oakland Ca in August 1926 William James Kerr ,standing with the cigar and his son Frederick Kerr in the back seat. Family friends George White is leaning against the car, while Alfred Maderas, sits in the passenger seat and Bob Schnell sits on the running board.

Frederick Kerr’s birth certificate (1909), states that his father (William Kerr) was born in Santa Cruz, California, his age in 1909 was 34, and his occupation was shown as “Teamster”.  Louise Marie Grote Kerr was 28 in 1909 and her occupation was shown as “housewife”.  They were living at 614 – 2^nd Street in Oakland.  Somewhere along the way the spelling of Grandmother Kerr’s first name changed from “Louisa” to “Louise” – we do not know if it was recorded incorrectly, or if she “Americanized” her name by changing the spelling at that time.

Louise (Louisa) Marie Grote Kerr (our Grandmother) was born in San Francisco on April 1, 1880.  She died on June 29, 1963, at the age of 83.      

Grote Family

Frederick Grote immigrated to the United States in 1866.  Frederick Grote was born in Prussia, October 22, 1843. He later listed his father’s name as Henry Grote and his mother’s name as Marie (her maiden name is not known).  Prussia in 1866 was an independent nation ruled by a hereditary aristocracy.  In 1870 the principality of Prussia would, as a result of a series of European wars, begin the consolidation that made it dominate in the first German Empire with Kaiser Wilhelm as its leader.

Why did Frederick Grote leave Prussia?  As a young man, Frederick was apparently apprenticed to learn the brewing trade.  No record survives as to why at the age of 22 Frederick chose to leave his native land and immigrate to the United States.  From a later description (California voter registration) we know that Frederick Grote was 5 feet 10 inches tall, that he had a dark complexion with brown eyes and dark hair. We are told that he had a scar on his 2^nd finger left hand.

Historians have written that in the 19^th century, millions of young German immigrants left the country of their birth.  Most Germans departed from the port city of Hamburg on passenger vessels for New York City.  Their journey to America was often expensive, crowded, and the shipboard accommodations were uncomfortable and unhealthy. 

New York City had a large German speaking population.  The Grote’s, like most immigrants, arrived at the Castle Garden Emigrant Landing Depot.  By the 1850’s New York City had one of the largest German speaking populations in the world. “If Manhattan’s Germans had set up their own city in 1855 it would have been the fourth largest in urban agglomeration in the United States – third if joined by Brooklyn’s Germans. New York City had become one of the three capitals of the German-speaking world, outranked only by Berlin and Vienna.”[1]

It is possible that Frederick had family already living in New York City who welcomed him and helped him become established.  In all probability Frederick worked in New York City in the thriving and German dominated brewing industry.  About 1871, he married his wife Marie (we do not know her maiden name).  Marie was also from Prussia and may, have come from the same town as Frederick.  This was often the case in the German immigrant community[1].

In approximately 1875 he moved his family to San Francisco, California.  The 1880 census is the first historical mention we have of the Grote family in America.  In that year the family lived on O’Farrell Street, San Francisco.  In the 1880 census, recorded in June of that year, the Grote’s are enumerated as:

     Frederick Grote 36 – Occupation: “Malter” (born Oct.22, 1843        Died March 1, 1911)

     Mary (Marie)  30 – Occupation: “Keeping House” (b.1850 d.       March 5, 1896)            

     Henry            9 (b. July 18, 1870 d. March 1, 1905)

     Mary R.          8

     Annie C.         6

     Rebecca M.      2

     Louisa Marie     2 months old (b. April 1, 1880 d. June 29,                                                1963)

Note:  19^th century census enumerators when questioning people, had a tendency to Americanize names, e.g., changing Marie to Mary or Friederich to Frederick.  New immigrants to the U.S. also had a propensity to go along with this practice and to readily change their names to conform to American usage.

In the 1880 census Frederick and Marie Grote confirm that they were born in Prussia.  They stated that both of their parents were German.  Of their children, Henry, Mary and Annie were all born in New York.  Rebecca and Louisa were born in California. 

The evidence for this is the Frederick Grote family listed in the 1880 census.  This is based on our Grandmother, Louisa Marie Grote Kerr’s death certificate, which states that Louisa was born April 1, 1880 and the listing in the San Francisco Morning Call on April 3, 1880 which states:

“Grote- In this city, April 1, to the wife of Frederick Grote, a daughter.”

This birth date also matches the 1880 census age for Louisa and consequently confirms that we have the right family.

On the 1900 census, Frederick Grote stated that he had immigrated to America in 1866 and he confirmed that he was resident in the United States for the last 34 years.

How and when did the Grote family come to California?  From the children’s birth dates and birth locations, it appears that they probably moved about 1875 to San Francisco.  The Union Pacific Railroad united the eastern and western United States in 1866 and would have been the most direct way to travel to the west coast.  My father, Fred Kerr, told me some years back that he thought they came via ship around South America.  Travel by ship was much slower, however, the safer way to travel.  The 1870’s were a time of considerable warfare on the Great Plains and federal troops were trying to suppress various Native American tribes during that time.  We think the Grotes chose to travel by sea rather then chance overland rail.

What lured Frederick and Marie Grote west?  Two possible reasons:   first, San Francisco by the 1870’s, had a large German community and a booming beer industry.  Secondly, other inducements were the good weather and the business opportunities the young city offered.

Frederick Grote continued in the brewing trade. He appears in the 1889 San Francisco City Directory as: Frederick Grote, Maltster, 222 Francisco Street, San Francisco.  The directory lists Frederick as working for the Hagemann Brewing Co.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Maltster” and “Malter” are old terms for people who prepared the malt for brewing whiskey or beer.  Hagemann’s Brewing Company was one of San Francisco largest brewers in the late 19^th century. Hagemann’s made Albany Beer which was brewed at 71-75 Everett Street, San Francisco. The brewery was destroyed during the 1906 earthquake along with seventeen other San Francisco breweries. San Francisco always loved a good beer!

The 1890 San Francisco City Directory for 1890 reflects his changing occupation.  He is now listed as Frederick Grote,                          330 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, and his occupation is shown as: Groceries and Liquors.  The 1899 Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory states the Grote Family occupations and changes in residences.  These Directories are now crucial sources of information for researchers of early immigrant families to San Francisco since the great earthquake and fire destroyed almost all San Francisco records prior to 1906.

On July 28, 1890 at the San Francisco, California Superior Court, Frederick Grote became an American Citizen.  We know from San Francisco voter rolls that he took his new citizenship seriously and voted often. 

As mentioned in our earlier discussion of the Kerr Family, the devastation caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire, destroyed many census and vital records that related to Grandfather Kerr (William Kerr) and Grandmother Kerr (Louisa Grote) (unfortunately many of Oakland’s records were also stored in SF).  The next historical mention of the family is found in the March 9^th 1896 Death section of the San Francisco Call:

“Grote- In this city, March 5, 1896, Maria Grote a native of Germany.”

In the laconic style of the day no cause of death, spouse, or relationships are mentioned. We can safely infer that this is Great Grandmother Marie Grote as the age of Maria Grote in the 1880 census was 30 years old.

When the census enumerator made his rounds on June 11-12^th 1900, the Grote family was living at 1430 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco.  The family members living at the Pacific Ave. residence included:

Name             Status  Birth Yr/Month   Age Occupation

Grote, Frederick Head    1843     Oct.    56  Brewer

Grote, Henry     Son     1870     July    29  Brewer

Grote, Frederick Son     1882     Dec.    17  Teamster

Grote, Rebecca   Daughter1877     Nov.    22  Seed Saleslady

Based on this 1900 census, daughters Mary R. and Annie C. (ages 9 and 6 respectively on the 1880 census) are no longer living with their father.  Both Mary and Annie would, if living in 1900, probably be married.  Louisa Marie Grote would have been 20 years old in 1900 and is not listed on the 1900 census.  We do not have a marriage record, however, we are certain she was married to William Kerr at that time. 

In terms of living accommodations, the 1900 census reflects that the Grote family rented their apartment.  Also, from the prevalence of German names on the census page in which they were enumerated, they appear to have lived in an area of San Francisco with a large German population.  From this, it is possible to conclude that some of the second generation Grote’s still lived and worked in a German cultural environment.

In the 1900 census Frederick Grote and his son Henry’s occupations are listed as “Brewers”.  The 1880 census had listed Frederick as a Malter so it would appear that both father and son are now in charge of their employers brewing process.  In all probability Frederick was also running his grocery/liquor business at this same time (for example, one of the daughters and/or sons-in-law, may have been actually running the store). 

Henry Grote died on March 1, 1905, at age 34 of “pneumonia” and he is described as “the beloved son of Frederick and the “late Marie Grote”.”  His sisters, according to the San Francisco Examiner, were:  Mrs. William Cormack [Annie C.], Mrs. J. Bole [Rebecca], Mrs. William Kerr, and the late Mrs. Mary Baumann.  At the time of Henry’s death, he was a member of a German beer appreciation society called the Gambrinus Verein.²  We know he had adopted some American cultural customs because he was also a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF).

We know that Grandfather Grote and the other family members survived the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and fire, however, we do not know how their livelihoods were affected.  For the Grotes, the fire and earthquake were not the only disasters they had to face.  Following the earthquake, the city of San Francisco was put under Marshall Law and one of the first ordinances passed was one that banned the sale of all alcoholic beverages.  This ordinance was designed to help prevent looting and criminal activity following the earthquake.  The liquor ban stayed in effect for a number of months which must have had a very negative effect on the Grotes. 

In 1906 just prior to the great earthquake and fire, Frederick Grote was residing at 1431 Pacific Avenue.  Pacific Avenue is located on one of San Francisco’s very high hills and from the 1890’s would have been serviced by one of the nearby cable cars. 

In 1906 the Grote family lived near the epicenter of the earthquake so their grocery store, if they still owned it in 1906, was most likely destroyed.  We know from other San Francisco records, Frederick Grote changed his occupation after the earthquake and after 1906 made his living as a carpenter.  In the rebuilding, carpentry was in high demand and a lucrative skill as the citizens of the city sought to rebuild their town from the ashes. Most likely Frederick spent his remaining years living with his son Frederick Grote Jr and visiting with his daughters and their children.  From his death certificate we know he lived with his son for at least three years at 1110 York Street located near Potrero Hill.³

Frederick Grote died in San Francisco March 1, 1911 at age 68.

Towards the close of his life, Frederick Grote could look back on decades of hard work and adventure he an his beloved Maria had shared.

                   Frederick and Maria Grote

                    Ruhe in Frieden

                     Rest in peace

Acknowledgements and Special Thanks – Family history is a collective enterprise and this document would not be complete without the generous contributions of Frederick and Maria’s many descendants.  My thanks to everyone and especially to the following family members for lovingly preserving and passing on cherished information and photographs:  Clara Weathers, Gail Weathers, Susan Rugraff, Edith Guercio, Stephanie Horton and Cynthia Morgan.

Endnotes

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Submitted to Genealogy Trails by Gene Kerr Sharp - 2008