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Edward Clawiter^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Born 27 May 1818 in Gammin, Prussia¹.  Married Mary Gading1.  Died 13 Dec 1884¹. Buried in Mt. Eden Cemetery.⁸

Owned $30,000 farm in 1870, Mt. Eden, Alameda Co, CA.  Household includes workers from Oldenburg, Germany and Denmark¹.  Each of the versions of his life in the obituaries and book extractions below differs slightly.

LeRoy F. Krusi wrote on the back of this photo: :"My grandfather Edward Clawiter (maternal) died before I was born. Arrived in S.F. on a sailing ship in 1849. Gave up the mines for farming and bought lands from Don Jesus Estudillo near San Lorenzo and Mt. Eden. Raised wheat which was barged from Alvarado (Union City) to S.F."

Children with Mary Gading:

Ida Matilda Clawiter, born 14 April 1864 in Mt. Eden, California.  Female with issue.¹

Edward Henry Clawiter, born 27 November 1852 in California.  Male with issue.¹

Mary Clawiter, born 1854 in California.  Wilma Schumacher records her as married to John LUDWIG.  Per the obituaries in Mary Gading Clawiter's prayer book, of these sisters married a Mr. PARKHURST and Mary appears to be the only possible candidate..^{1, 3, 4}

Johanna Clawiter, born 1856 in California.¹

Union Augusta Clawiter, born 7 August 1851 in Union, California.^{2, 4}

Johann Henrich Clawiter- born 1858, died 22 September 1862 at age 4 and buried in Mt. Eden Cemetary.  I am assuming this parentage as Edward was not yet married at this time.^{2, 7}

Robert Clawiter- born Sep/Oct 1866, died 10 Oct 1868 just after his second birthday.  I am assuming this parentage as Edward was not yet married at this time.  Interesting to note that Ida later named one of her children Robert.^{2, 7}

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

unknown daughter: birth, step or foster²

Edward Clawiter, one of the oldest and most respectable citizens of Alameda county, died on Saturday last, at his residence, in Alameda, where he made his home for the last seven years of his life. Previously to that time he resided in Mt. Eden, where he had a valuable property, now managed by his son, Edward Clawiter, Jr. Mr. Clawiter came to California in 1847, and returned to him home in Europe, the following year, for a short visit. In 1849 he was again back in California and since that time, until his death, he resided in this county, where he aquired a considerable fortune. He was 66 years of age at the time of his death, which was caused by erysipeias, after an illness of ten days. He leaves a widow, one son, and four daughters to mourn hi...

Clawiter- In Alameda, December 18th, Edward Clawiter, Sr., beloved husband of Mary Clawiter, aged 66 years, 6 months and 17days.

The death of Edward Clawiter removes a pioneer who has been identified with this county since its settlement. Mr. Clawiter was a native of Pomerama, and came to this couast on a whaling vessel as early as 1847. For two year thereafter his vessel cruised in the Pacific for wales, wintering at the Sandwich Islands. In 1849 the gold excitement attracted the attention of the world, and everybody who could get here came. Mr. Clawiter was one of the first. After a successful season in the mines he went to Germany and married. Returning, he opened a store in Union City, the site of what was very near the present village of Alvarado. Union City was then a driving business town, but has now all but disappeared. After three years of successful merchandising he moved out "on the plains," as the country in the vicinity of Mt. Eden was then called, occupied a quarter section of land and engaged in farming. This occupation he pursued for many years, with such success that he purchased additional farms, owning at the time of his death some four hundred acres in that vicinity, besides property in other places. Mr. Clawiter took up his residence in Alameda some seven or eight years ago. He leaves a widow, one son and four daughters- Mrs. Howe, of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Herman Wilhelmi, Mrs. [this last name has been blacked out] and Miss Ida Clawiter, of this town. The son, Mr. Edward Clawiter, resided at Mr. Eden. Mr. Clawter was strict and upright in his dealings, and was generally respected as an honest and honorable man.

The Mt. Eden Cemetary Association of Eden Township on April 13, 1861 stated "a number of the citizens of Eden Township assembled at the school house of the Eureka District in Mt. Eden, California, for the purpose of proceeding with the formation of a society for the establishment and management of a Cemetery Association."...

The subsequent election of Directors of the Association resulted in the naming of Christian Anderson, George Meyers, Christian Bothsow, George Fleming and Edward Clawiter to this office.

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The church fund drive was headed by A.W. Schafer, E. Eichler and other prominent Mt. Eden men such as Justus Gading, D. Pesdorf, Henry Peterman, E. Clawiter and Nicolas Gading. They raised $1,600 of the $2,000 needed. Others contributed $500 more....

Article 8 of the Rules of the church stated: "This Church is called the Union Church, because every religion may be preached in same, with the approval of one of the officers."

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The Edward Clawiter Family

Edward Clawiter, the founder of the Mt. Eden family whose name is perpetuated on a main boulevard in the Mt. Eden-Russell District was trained as a machinist in his native land of Caren Prussia, Germany. He had been born in 1817 and went to sea after he served out his apprenticeship.

One of his voyages, when he was 30 years old, took him to California just after the conquest was completed by American forces in 1847. In 1849 as a ship's officer he returned to San Francisco with the first cargo of gold miners supplies.

He left his ship as did most of the crew and proceeded to the Southern mines, prospecting in Sonora and Angel's Camp. He mined enough in the placers to finance a trip back to Germany and carried on his person the first California gold to be exhibited in the Berlin Museum.

While in Bremen, Germany, Clawiter married Mary Gading who was then 21 years of age. He brought his bride back to the San Francisco Bay Area and invested in a general store in John Horner's port town on Alameda Creek, Alvarado.

When the Clawiter's first child was born in Union City, John Horner presented the new baby with a town lot on the banks of the Alameda Creek. The child was christened Union Clawiter.

Other children born to the Clawiter family were a daughter, Mary, and then another daughter, Ida, who became the wife of H. Krusi of Alameda.

When the senior Clawiter tired of the mercantile business, he sold the store and bought 500 acres of fertile land adjacent to the village of Mt. Eden, in 1877.

When he was sixty years old, Edward Clawiter turned over the management of his farm to his son, Edward H. Calwiter. He had been born in Union City in 1851 and in 1877 had married Annie Schafer, who lived on a nearby Mt. Eden farm. They had a son, Edward Ivan Clawiter, and a daughter, Grace B. Clawiter.

In 1887 the younger Clawiter built and operated a large grain and hay warehouse at the Mt. Eden Station of the South Pacific Railroad Company.

Edward Clawiter, St. died in Mt. Eden in 1884 at the age of 67. His wife, Mary Gading Clawiter, lived on unitl 1906 when she died at 75.

In the second generation, Annie Schafer Clawiter died in 1942 at age 85 and her husband, Edwrad H. Clawiter, followed her in death a year later in 1943 at age 90.

The Clawiters

Edwin Clawiter, a young German from Alsace-Lorraine who went to sea at an early age, came early to Union City. When his ship arrived at the infant town of Yerba Beuna in 1849, Clawiter learned of the gold discovery on the American River six months before. Clawiter was successful in the Sonora mins. With his stake in gold he established a general merchandise store in 1850 in Union City when it was the shipping point for John Horner's potatoes.

On a trip to Germany he had married Mary Ganding, a native of Bremen, and had brought his bride back to California. The Clawiters' first daughter, Union, was born in 1852. She grew to be a cultured woman, was educated in S.S. Harmon Pacific College of Oakland and later lived with her family in the Mt. Eden area.

Clawiter raised cattle for butchering at Alvarado in the 60's. He sold the fresh beef to restaurants and hotels in San Francisco, sending the meat to market in long boats which were rowed to Butchertown in Potrero District by Mexican vaquero boatmen.

1. Mother of loafingcactus, personal knowledge and research.

2. LeRoy F. Krusi, personal knowledge.

3. Wilma Schumacher, personal knowledge and research.

4. Obituaries and newspaper articles pasted inside Mary Gading Clawiter's prayer book.

5.  Mt Eden:... by John Sandoval, 1988.  Collection of the Union County Historical Museum.  Mr. Sandoval passed away in 1991.  I have not been able to obtain permission from the estate to post this rather long quote, but it appears from the life of Mr. Sandoval that he might not have minded.  More can be read about him here.

6. Early Glimpses of Union City, published 1978 by City of Union City.    Collection of the Union County Historical Museum.

7. Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society, Deaths Pre-1905.

8.  Visit to Mt. Eden Cemetery by the Cactus on 30 August 2005.

This page last updated 30JAN2005.

thecactus@loafingcactus.com