RIENHOLD H. G. KAEHLER

Many of the thrifty and enterprising residents of Merced county are of foreign birth and breeding, who have brought from their homes across the sea those habits of industry and energetic perseverance that have won them success in their undertakings, Prominent among this number is Rienhold H. G. Kaehler, a well-known and prosperous business man of the city of Merced. A son of George Kaehler, he was born, June 9, 1862, in Kiel, Prussia, which was likewise his father's birthplace.

A machinist by trade, George Kaehler was for many years master mechanic of a manufacturing establishment in the Fatherland. As a soldier in the Danish army, he was in active service during the Revolution on 1848. Immigrating to this country, he settled in California, and is now a resident of Merced. He married Josepha Ferdinand, a native of Silesia, Prussia, and they have three children living, namely: George, a wholesale dealer of liquors, in Fresno; Rienhold H. G., the subject of this review; and Max, of Los Banos.

Endowed with excellent mental ability, Rienhold H. G. Kaehler obtained a good education in his native city, and at the age of fourteen years began learning the trade of manufacturing and distilling liquors, at which he served an apprenticeship of four years. Shipping then as purser on the Chinese cruiser Nankin, he sailed through the Chinese waters, and along the coast of Japan, visiting ports of both countries. Coming to San Francisco in 1884, Mr. Kaehler was employed as a clerk in that city for a while, and then went to Seattle, Wash., as manager for the firm of Walter Brothers & Co. Returning to San Francisco, he remained there two years. Locating in Merced in March, 1888, he established a wholesale liquor business, representing the Rainier beer in Merced county for the Seattle Brewing Company, and being agent for the James D. Pepper whiskey. Mr. Kaehler has acquired a large property in this locality. He has built several business houses, but has disposed of all excepting a brick store building, 25X95 feet. He likewise erected a number of residences as an investment for his money, and of these he has sold all excepting the one which he now lives. Purchasing land in this vicinity, he improved it, setting out an orchard of twenty acres, and this likewise, he sold at an advantage.

Mr. Kaehler married, in San Francisco, Blanche Wallinfels, a native of that city, and they have two children, namely: Rienhold and Norman. Fraternally Mr. Kaehler is a member of the Druids and the Foresters. Politically he is a Democrat.
 

Transcribed by: Alma Stone