Guide to the Guth family papers
April Farnham
Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library
Copyright 2014
828 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 264-2976
Fax: (916) 264-2884
Email: sacroom@saclibrary.org
URL: http://www.saclibrary.org
Sacramento Public Library. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Guth family papers
Collection number: MC 32
Sacramento Public LibrarySacramento Room
Sacramento, California
- Processed by:
- April Farnham
- Date Completed:
- 2014
- Encoded by:
- April Farnham
Copyright 2014 Sacramento Public Library. All rights reserved.
Title: Guth family papers
Dates: 1884/1904
Collection number: MC 32
Creator:
Guth, George
Collection Size:
.5 linear ft.
(2 bound volumes, 2 folders)
Repository:
Sacramento Public Library. Sacramento Room
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: George Guth and family ran a grocery store business in Sacramento in the late 19th century. Two bound volumes of script document
the Guth family grocery business and genealogical history. Legal papers document transactions for the Lot 8 property ("Lavine"
and "Sprague" estate) bounded by Nth and O, 20th and 21st Streets in Sacramento, Calif., dating from 1884-1904.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please contact the Sacramento Room.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
Use of the described materials may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Sacramento Public Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Guth family papers, MC 32, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.
Born in 1834, George Guth was a native of Alsace-Lorraine France who came to California circa the 1850s. He married Annie
O'Keefe (Annie Guth), a native of County Waterford, Ireland, and ran a grocery business on the east half of Lot No. 5 in the
block bounded by H and I Streets and 11th and 12th Streets in Sacramento circa the early 1880s . He passed on Oct. 31, 1884
leaving behind five children, including a son, Joseph (Joe) Guth, who inherited his grocery business. George's brother John
Guth, born 1832, was a prosperous farmer in Sacramento who owned J. Guth & Son Feed Store at 725 J Street. Upon John's death
in 1894 his estate was passed on to wife Mary Jane Guth and children, one of which was a daughter who married Jacob Gebert.
Gebert owned the south half of Lot 8 until 1893. From 1885 to 1891, the north half of Lot 8 was known as the "Lavine Estate"
or property of Ms. Anna and Emil Lavine.
Emil Lavine was a prominent Sacramento citizen who was the District Deputy of the Capital City Grove No. 66 of the United
Ancient Order of Druids, a fraternal fellowship. Anna Lavine (Ziegler), who owned the north half of Lot 8 and shares in the
Germania Building and Loan Association, divorced Emil in 1886 and married Louis Ziegler in 1888. Upon Anna's sudden death
of arsenic poisoning on Aug. 26th, 1889, her property was left to children Emil Jr. and Ella. Their father Emil Lavine petitioned
for guardianship and sold the property to Durham Sprague in 1891. Durham Sprague was a prominent Sacramento contractor and
a member of the Sacramento Lodge, the Ancient Order of the United Workmen, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The
"Sprague Estate" was passed on to Emelia Sprague (Durham's wife) and eventually under the ownership of Goethe Realty Company
and H.J. Goethe Company in 1904.
Two bound volumes (dated 1884-1885) labeled with the names of George and Joe Guth contain records on grocery store customers
(including Capital Brewery), paid bills, the will of George Guth, Joseph Guth's employment history, and the marriage, birth,
and death information on the Guth and O'Keefe families. One folder contains a soft-cover booklet and loose leaf papers with
abstract of records for chain of title, deed and property transfer information for the South Half of Lot 8, block bounded
by N and O Streets, 20th and 21st Streets, in Sacramento, California. The other folder contains a black hard-covered legal
ledger pad labeled "Ms. Emelia Sprague" with an abstract of records for the chain of title, deed and property transfer information
for the North Half of Lot 8. This ledger pad also contains information on the genealogy of the Lavine and Sprague families.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Guth family
Lavine family
Sprague family
Grocery trade -- California -- Sacramento.
J. Guth & Son Feed Store (Sacramento, Calif.)