Duisenberg Family |
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The
family of Charles A.C. Duisenberg lived at 1031 Harrison Street. Charles
Duisenberg was part of the wave of German migrants that swept into San
Francisco during the late 1840s and 1850s. He was born in Bremen, Germany
and came to California with his brother in the early years of the Gold
Rush, where he became a successful business man.
Like many other German immigrants to San Francisco, Charles Duisenberg
settled in the "wilderness" to the south of Market Streeet,
close to Emmanuel Russ and his Russ Gardens. These pleasure grounds
were very popular among San
Francisco's German community. In 1867, he married Minna Gross Schupf,
an accomplished poet and author. They had six children, and the family
remained in the Harrison Street house until Duisenberg's death in 1894.
The Duisenbergs were well-to-do entertained often. Although the Duisenbergs were wealthy, the block surrounding their home did not keep pace with their fashionable status. By 1887, tenement housing for the workers for nearby industries had been built near their house.
After
Charles died in 1894, his widow had sold the house on Harrison Street
and moved to a more fashionable neighborhood. In an abandoned privy
left behind on Harrison Street, 6,981 artifacts representing 2,436 items
including tablewares, bottles, clothing and shoes. It seems that before
they moved, the family threw away many unwanted and outdated items.
Among the things discarded were 127 serving and tableware vessels suggesting
the style with which the Duisenbergs - well-known for their hospitality
– entertained their guests.