Biography of Louis F. Breuner

Louis F. Breuner has for fifteen years been closely identified with the business interests of Sacramento, and is one of the best known and one of the most progressive and enterprising men of that city. anyone acquainted with the business interests or the material improvements of the city within the last few years could point out numerous instances where Mr. Breuner’s individuality and energy have left a permanent impress for welfare and upbuilding. K Street, on which his principal business interests are centered, is almost a monument to his business acumen and foresight, and the fact that it is the most important thoroughfare of trade in the city is due to his efforts. He has devoted himself to a business life since an early age, and his interests now extend to many parts of the west.

Mr. Breuner claims the distinction of being a native son of the city where his career has been centered. He was born in Sacramento, August 15, 1869, a son of John and Katherine (Keuchler) Breuner, both natives of Germany and of prominent German connections. John Breuner came to this country in 1849 and arrived in California in 1852. He engaged in the furniture business in Sacramento and occupied a prominent position there until his death in 1890. He held high degrees in the Masonic order. His wife is till living, and makes her home in New York. There are four children besides Louis F., his brother John being president and manager of the San Francisco houses of the John Breuner Company, and has been associated with his brother Louis in many of their enterprises.

Louis F. Breuner was educated in the public schools of Sacramento and later a business cololege of the same city. At the age of twenty, owing to the illness of his father, he and his brother took charge of the furniture business in Sacramento, and at his father’s death they succeeded to the business. A year later they added to their stock carpets, house-furnishing goods and crockery, and ten years later opened a store in San Francisco at 261 Geary street, John taking charge of this house. The John Breuner Company is incorporated, and has a capital stock of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, being one of the largest mercantile concerns in the state. It also has large stores in Reno, Nevada, and in Stockton, California.

Mr. Breuner was president of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce for two years from 1900, being the youngest man ever elected to the presidency of the chamber, and as such he took an especial interest in the general welfare of his city and the county, at the same time taking an active part in the work of the Sacramento Development Association, of which he is still a member.

Mr. Breuner was married in Cincinanti, Ohio, June 14, 1893, to Miss Clara L. F. Schmidt, a native of that city, and their union has been blessed by four sturdy sons, Louis, Clarence, Richard and Wallace. Past-president of Sunset Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West, he has been a member of that organization since the age of twenty-one years; has served as delegate to the grand parlow, and at one time took a prominent part in its councils. He stands high in Masonic circles, is a Knight Templar and a Shriner and an officer of the grand commandery, and is the youngest past-commander in the state. He is a member of the Sutter Club of Sacramento and the Union League Club of San Francisco.

Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.