Frederick William Kiesel, general manager of the California Winery and cashier of the California State Bank of Sacramento, is a representative of a type of young men well known in the west—young men of marked energy who, in the improvement of business opportunity, have gradually advanced to positions of prominence that many an older man might well envy. The enterprising spirit of the west is manifest in their careers, and while winning prosperity, this class of citizens has likewise contributed to the general development and improvement of the state.
Mr. Kiesel was born on the 11th of February 1874, in Corinne, Utah, his parents being Frederick J. and Julia (Schansenbach) Kiesel, both of whom were natives of Ludwigsburg, Germany. In childhood, the parents came to America. The father went to Utah in the ’50s and was there engaged in merchandising, living at Corinne for some time. For the past twenty-five years he has been engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Ogden, Utah, and occupies a very enviable position in mercantile circles in that state.
Frederick William Kiesel remained under the parental roof until nine years of age and then went to Germany, where he acquired his early education at the public schools. He afterward became a student in the Greylock Institute at South Williamstown, Massachusetts, and in 1892 matriculated in Harvard College, completing a full four years’ course within those classic walls. He was graduated in 1896, and thus well equipped for important and responsible business cares, he came to California, locating first in Sacramento, where he organized the California Winery. He became general manager of this business and has since occupied the position. The company operates the largest independent plant in the state, having a capacity of two million gallons of wine annually and owning fifteen hundred and thirty-seven acres of land, all planted to grapes. On the 1st of April 1898, Mr. Kiesel was appointed receiving teller in the California State Bank, and in the following year was made assistant cashier, while on the retirement of Mr. Gerber he took his place as cashier and is now thus identified with banking interests of the city.
On the 18th of December 1901, occurred the marriage of Mr. Kiesel and Miss Jane Birdsall, a native of Sacramento and a daughter of Fred Birdsall, one of the organizers and directors of the Sacramento Bank, with which institution he was connected up to the time of his death. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kiesel are well known in the capital city, where they have a large circle of friends. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while his political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He has, however, never sought or desired public office, preferring to give his best energies to his business affairs, which are now being capably conducted. He carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and although yet in early manhood he has gained a very creditable and honorable position in financial and manufacturing circles of California.
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.