Ernest Cerf's SLO House

Ernest Cerf lived in San Luis Obispo for about thirty years, from around 1868 to 1898. His eight children were born there. They lived in a house on South Higuera Street, which is now the main business street in downtown San Luis Obispo, the street that is closed to automobiles during our famous Thursday evening farmers’ market.  In those days, however, Monterey Street was the main business Street, the street where the Blochman and Cerf store was located.

Although I assume Ernest Cerf had the house built, in San Luis Obispo the house eventually became known as the Sauer house.  Here is a photo that was supposedly taken after it was purchased by Andrew Sauer. The year on the back of the photo says 1887, but Ernest Cerf still lived in San Luis Obispo then. I have been unable to track down the deed to the property because the purchase/sale transaction did not occur directly between Cerf and Sauer and maybe because Ernest Cerf and his family lived in another house for a time before they left San Luis Obispo.

Probably because the downtown was growing, Sauer had the house moved around the corner, exactly when I don’t know. In the new location, the house had a view across the street of the Mission Vineyards. At the time of the move, the house was enlarged. Here is a photo taken many years after the move and the renovations.

Unfortunately, the home was torn down sometime after 1962, and the last lot the house sat on is now a bank parking lot.

References:

Photos courtesy of the San Luis Obispo History Center.

Ernest Cerf Makes an Unusual Bet

Three friends went beyond making a simple bet with each other. They put the bet in writing, and the document survived. With permission from the History Center of SLO County which received the document from Elaine S., a descendant of Lazare Landeker, here is the agreement. A transcription follows at the end.

If you can't read the actual document, read the transcription below before reading the rest of this paragraph. Lazare Landeker married Alice Hirsch on 14 April 1870 in New Orleans, LA. Ernest Cerf married Bobbette Hirsch on 6 September 1874 in San Francisco, CA. Alice and Bobbette were sisters. By the way, Moses Cerf married Fannie Landeker, Lazare’s sister, in 1867. It is unknown when Lazarus Kaiser married, but his first child was born in 1874. Ernest was the last bachelor to get married. Lazare Landeker sure didn’t waste any time.

Transcription:

Memorandum of agreement made and entered into at the town of San Luis Obispo, County of San Luis Obispo, State of California this 20^th day of January A.D. 1870 between Lazare Landeker, Ernest Cerf and Lazarus M. Kaiser of the town and state aforesaid witnesseth:

That the parties aforesaid shall decide by lot in a manner agreed upon and the party elected shall abide by the decision, the party elected binds himself within the space of Fifteen (15) months from date of this instrument to quit a Bachelor’s life and become a Benedict that is to marry some respectable female, and in case he does not marry within the time specified that he shall make forfeiture as follows to wit:

If not married within six (6) months from date of this agreement he shall forfeit One Hundred and Sixty Six Dollars ($166.66/100) and Sixty Six cents—if not married within twelve (12) months from date of this agreement he shall forfeit an additional One Hundred and Sixty Six Dollars ($166.66/l00) and Sixty Six cents and if not married within the space of Fifteen (15) months from the date of this agreement as per its times he shall forfeit an additional amount of One Hundred and Sixty Six ($166.66/100) Dollars and Sixty Six cents and or all of which forfeit moneys shall [from is changed to on] on the day of such forfeiture without grace be paid in Gold Coin of the United States into the hands of A. Blochman and Co. of San Luis Obispo to be kept by them as a fund and shall be paid over by them to the first party of this instrument who shall thereafter marry—upon his wedding day, and we furthermore agree that the two who shall remain unmarried shall between them defray two thirds (2/3) of the legitimate expenses incurred by the marriage of the elected party and that the name of the elected party shall be inserted in this instrument in the line following.

Elected Party Lazare Landeker.

On line eight (8) of this instrument the word “from” has been erased and the word “on” inserted. Witness our hands and seals this 20^th day of January 1870

Lazare Landeker [seal]

Ernest Cerf [seal]

L. M. Kaiser [seal]

Witness

Richard J. Ford

[End of transcription]

Moses and Ernest Cerf, SLO Land Purchases, Part 1

In this blog, I’m taking you on my research trip through the land records of San Luis Obispo because I almost can’t believe what I discovered.

Good Beginning

After downloading the grantor-grantee index to SLO deeds, I find Moses (he used the name Moses on all deeds) usually purchased land with Abraham Blochman, his business partner, and sometimes with his brother, Ernest. Moses bought 35 parcels of land (between 1859 and 1880) and made 36 sales of land (between 1864 and 1894). Ernest was a buyer in 87 transactions (between 1870 and 1891) and made 70 sales (between 1872 and 1894), mostly by himself. I decide my game plan.

At the County Recorder’s Office, the first deed checked records a sale from Moses Cerf and Blochman to George Hearst, the father of William Randolph Hearst who built Hearst Castle. In 1868, Blochman and Moses sold their one-quarter interest in land along San Simeon Beach between two arroyos known as Port Reservation on the Rancho Piedra Blanca for $2,000 in gold coin of the United States. Checking other deeds, I discover Blochman and Moses bought their interest in the property in 1866 for $1,000.  San Simeon harbor was busy in that era, shipping agricultural products and serving a whale fishing community. Principal commerce in and out of the port included dairy, wool, whale oil, produce, eggs, and beans (Angel 331), for which the wharf owner collected wharfage charges. Not a bad start to my day of research. It’s pretty cool, actually.

View from Hearst Castle to San Simeon Harbor

San Simeon Pier today

The Ranchos

Next, I select a deed involving an owner of a Mexican land grant.  A little background is needed here. Before American occupation of California, the prime cattle-grazing land in coastal San Luis Obispo County was granted by the Mexican government to Mexican citizens who were able to stock the land with cattle or who were entitled to favors from the government (Angel 213). Within about fifteen years after California became a state in 1850, the owners of these ranchos obtained patents of ownership from the U.S. Land Commission. In 1862 a severe drought began in California that lasted through 1864, killing much of the cattle on the ranchos.  Owners, desperate for cash, mortgaged their land and eventually sold some or all of their property when they were unable to pay their mortgages (Angel 222).

The deed I inspect is from Francis Z. Branch, an early California pioneer who married into a Mexican family and became a Mexican citizen. Branch and his sons sold property to Moses Cerf on January 15, 1869, for $18,240.00 in gold coin of the United States. I read the property description and immediately become confused. The deed describes the purchase of four properties, including the entire Rancho Bolsa de Chamisal (14,335.22 acres) and Rancho Arroyo Grande (4,437.29 acres). Next, it describes the purchase of a portion of two other ranchos, 3,579 acres of the 8,838.89-acre Rancho Pismo and 1,900 acres of the 30,911.20-acre Rancho Corral de Piedra. I immediately double-check my sources, noting this doesn’t agree with the local history books. We’re talking about a purchase of 24,251 acres and maybe eight miles of California coastline from north of Guadalupe to near Pismo Beach, an area encompassing the present-day towns of Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Oceano. I’m scratching my head, thinking how is this possible? I even take the deed over to one of the clerks to ask about it. She has nothing to offer, however. The hunt for an explanation continues.

View from Shell Beach looking south toward Pismo Beach and beyond.

I check deeds after 1869, finding a deed dated July 14, 1870, in which Moses Cerf granted property to Isaac C. Steele and sons. The property description matches, although it specifically mentions some exceptions for property sold. But get this, the sale price is $1. Huh? Reading further in the long deed, I find toward the end, “This deed is executed under and in pursuance of a Decree of the District Court of the 4^th Judicial District in and for the city and county of San Francisco, made and entered November 19, 1869….” What was the lawsuit about and why did it take eight months from the court decision to record the deed? The answer triggers a memory, and I search through my old research files.

Voila! My search turns up a document someone gave me when I first arrived in San Luis Obispo twenty years ago. Among several newspaper clippings of general county history I had received, I found a copy of an October 1870 court decision, Steele (and sons) v. Branch (and sons) and Moses Cerf, rendered by the California Supreme Court, which heard the final appeal.

The case centers on a written contract dated July, 1866, between Steele and Branch for five leagues of land (one league equals 4,428.4 acres). As part of the sale, Steele agreed to pay off a mortgage due on December 26, 1868, pay off accruing taxes, and erect $10,000 in improvements or in lieu of improvements to pay the mortgage down by that amount before December 1867. Failure to comply voids the contract. Steele did not make improvements or the payment before December 1867. The holder of the mortgage note lived in Santa Barbara and, when the note was due in December 1868, he sent the note, mortgage and release to his agent in San Francisco so he could receive the balance due there. Due to a delay in transportation, these papers were not received in San Francisco until after the due date of the mortgage. Steele had made an arrangement with a firm to make the mortgage payment with funds he had sent to his agent. Full payment of the mortgage was made on January 11, 1869, after the mortgage holder agreed to the delay but with no agreement by Branch. The release of mortgage was filed on January 16, 1869. The court opinion also notes that Branch offered to pay off his mortgage when due, but the mortgage holder declined because he had sent the papers to San Francisco. On January 15, 1869, Branch sold the land to Cerf, who immediately recorded the deed. Cerf claimed to have no notice that the mortgage debt had been fully paid by Steele and assumed Steele failed to perform on the contract.

The principal question of the case was whether or not the stipulated time for the payment of the mortgage debt by Steele was of the essence of the contract, as well as considering Steele’s failure to make improvements or a payment within the stipulated time. In examining the intention of the parties, the court found that Steele acted in good faith. The provision to void the contract if not fulfilled was deemed to be included merely to induce a prompt performance by Steele. The court noted that Branch may have been trying to get out of the contract (by offering to pay the mortgage himself) because the property had risen in value since the date of the contract. The court further noted that Branch did not suffer because Steele had not made timely improvements or made a payment in December 1867, and Branch did not try to forfeit the contract at that point in time.

Although the court annulled the deed to Moses Cerf, I find it curious that there was a deed from Moses to the Steeles instead of transferring the property back to Branch. This is definitely one that got away.

There's a lot more. Look for it to be published soon.

References:

Angel, Myron. History of San Luis Obispo County, California, Oakland, CA: Thompson & West, 1883.

Carpenter Index to Grantor/Grantee Databases, San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society, http://www.slocgs.org/carpenter/.

San Luis Obispo County Deeds, SLO County Recorder’s Office, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Isaac C. Steele, et al., Respondents, v. Francisco E. Branch, Ramon J. Branch, Leandro R. Branch, Frank Branch and Moses Cerf, Appellants, California Supreme Court Case No. 2,358, October 1870.

Levy Descendants Chart

Here's the descendants chart for the Levy branch of the family. Please note that Leopold Libmann Levy had two wives and children by both; eight children with the first wife and one child, Victoire Levy (fondly known as Auntie Vic), with the second wife. And, yes, the Boeles sisters married Levy brothers.

I had to stagger the youngest generation on the chart to make room, so try to visualize these five groups of children in one generation.

Cerf Descendants Chart

The Cerf Family Tree I posted as my first post is not easy to read, but it is the best way to show all the generations. I never explained that the numbers in the chart refer to generations with "1" being the oldest generation. The "+" sign means spouse.

To make it easier to see a visual of the older generations, I've made up a descendants chart. Although it would be helpful if it were carried out farther, it would then become too unwieldy and complicated. I hope you find this helpful.

Letters to Clarisse Cerf Rosenberg

The family of Clarisse Cerf Rosenberg, daughter of Aaron and Phoebe Levy Cerf, shared the letters she received from friends and relatives when she married in 1888 and at the birth of her son, Leo, in 1897.  These letters not only give us clues about Clarisse's personality and the times she lived in, but also show a close connection with the family of Aaron's cousin, Moise Cerf.

First, a long (and flowery) letter from a friend of Clarisse's who was unable to attend the wedding of Clarisse and Louis Rosenberg.  A transcription follows because it will be difficult to read from the original writing, but I wanted to include the original.  The original reads from the right side of the first page to the left side of the second page (and then right side) before coming back to the left side of the first page.

Letter from friend Flora, first page

Letter from friend Flora, second page

Oakland, Jan. 10/88

Dearest Friend Clarisse:

You are now married and let me add happy and it is to wish you joy on the occasion that I am writing this.  May your marriage prove a life long happiness.

I number Monday among one of the happy days for I received your dear letter, it was so full of good things that I read it over half a dozen times before I paused, or like the bee, had extracted all its sweetness.

How happy I am dear friend to know you are mistress of a happy home and to have such a noble husband.  I shall only say, you are as worthy of his devotion as he is of yours.  How fortunate, Louis dear, was, in securing such a prize as you, dear one.  A model wife.  I could fill a ledger with your good qualities, and not a line with the bad ones.  You are simply perfect as far as human perfection goes.

Mr. Levy told me all about the wedding, besides I read of the affair in papers.  Yes indeed, you did have a brilliant wedding.  I pictured you in your bridal dress, one of loveliness.  Mr. L said, “you made a beautiful bride.”  Clarisse, dear, imagine if you can, how I felt, one of your dearest friends, to be absent at your nuptial.  You were with me in thoughts all that happy day.  How I longed to be with you, what yearnings, my heart felt as though it would break.  To think after these eight or nine years being devoted and true friends, I could not see you married.  You can never know sweet friend, how much I suffered that day.  You were constantly in my mind.  Several times in the night I awoke, & my thoughts flew to you.  The next day you were still in my thoughts, wondering all sorts of things, etc. (ahem!).

Oh, how tickled I was when I heard from you.  I hope your new life will not interfere with our friendship.  It is now so long since I have seen you that I have grown quite anxious to and judge how you are looking in these happy days.  Well I will have to wait until March & a long wait it will be to me.  Would like to pay a visit to you & may some fine day, indeed Ukiah is too high for me.  It isn’t the place I visit dear, it is you.  Don’t forget me, when you come down in all your gayity.  Wrote & told Ida all about your wedding, etc.  She is well and happy.  How we miss her.  You can well imagine.  Oakland is still the same old d___ town.  Nothing new.  Rosetta gets married this month, also Gertie J., and my turn is next – Don’t faint – when I tell you – I had a proposal – “to go East.”  No one wants this chromo.  I am the same as of old.  Mr. G. A D. was over Wedns. Had lots to say – he marries for money – you can better believe.  Could tell you a good deal.  I fix him.  I sit on him (you know why).  Can’t imagine you married.  While writing I say “Be careful now how you write, Clarisse is married, etc.”  You write soon to me, Clarisse dear, and tell me all about “it.”  I will be strictly confidential.  Don’t forget me, dear one.  Write like yourself.  Oh! How I long to be with you this day & have a long chat like of old, but what can’t be cured, must be endured.  Oh! How happy you must be dear girl.  Heaven bless you & Lou Dear.  My heart’s best wishes to you both.  Goodby & with much love & many a warm wish for your future. 

Believe me, Ever Your True Friend,

Flora

[End of transcription]

Next is one letter containing notes from Lottie (Charlotte Cerf Elsasser, Moise's daughter), her mother, Fannie (Fannie Landeker Cerf, Moise's wife), and sister, Delphine (Delphine Cerf Stock, Moise's daughter).  They send their congratulations on the birth of Clarisse's son.  It follows the same reading pattern as before, with Delphine's at the end upside down.

Letter of Lottie, Fannie and Delphine, first page

Letter from Lottie, Fannie and Delphine, second page

Saturday

May 8, 1897

1155 Octavia St.

Dear Clarisse and Louis,

We heard with great pleasure of the advent of your little son and congratulate you most heartily.  May he prove nothing but a joy and pleasure to you and be a source of great happiness.

Have you decided what you will call him?  Whom does he look like?  I suppose Camille and Aileen [Aline] make a great fuss over him.  Do you feel real well Clarisse now?  I sincerely hope so.

Mother has not been very well, she hurt her foot and it was so inflamed that she had to stay in bed ten days poulticing it.  She is all right again now.

We had quite a fright with Yvon this week, we thought he had the measles and kept him in bed for three days but it only proved to be a strawberry rash.

I enclose a little bib pin for the tiny stranger and send him a big kiss with it.

With lots of love to all the folks and the same for yourselves.

I am yours,

Lottie

Dear Cousins,

Although a little late in offering our congratulations to the birth of your son, accept our good wishes, and may he prove all your fondest wishes may hope for.  I suppose that he will be the boss of the house, and his two sisters can take a back seat.  I am happy to hear that your dear Clarisse are doing so nicely.  Tomorrow is the barsmitvah I suppose, what is the name to be?  Tell your Father that Cousin Delphine Hippolyte’s Mother died a few weeks ago.

I have been confined to my room with a very sore foot, and am just out again after 2 weeks, so can give you very little news.  With fond love from all the family to yours dear Parents, also Clothilde & Ben, I remain,

Your Devoted Coz,

Fannie Cerf

Dear Cousins,

Accept heartiest although tardy congratulations on the advent of the son.  God grant he may be a blessing and a comfort to you always is the wish of your cousin.

Delphine Cerf

[End of transcription]

QUESTION:  Does anyone know who cousin Delphine Hippolyte is?

The last letter is from a friend, Ella, congratulating Clarisse on her son's birth.

Letter from Ella, first page

Letter from Ella, second page

My dear Friend,

Just having been out all day on a coaching party.  I am very tried, could not wait until I had written a hasty word of, Mazeltoff.  God bless you both, my dear, & I fervently hope - your husband yourself and the little girls – live to see the Boy grow to as good a man as his mother is a woman, my dearest love.

Yours sincerely,

Ella

Remember me to your Mama & all.

[End of transcription]

Moise and Ernest Cerf, Entrepreneurs

Moise and Ernest Cerf were brothers who immigrated to California from Phalsbourg, France. Moise was older by fourteen years, having been born in 1832, while Ernest was born in 1846. Their cousin, Aaron Cerf, born in 1824, had immigrated earlier than Moise by fifteen or more years.

In 1860, Moise Cerf appears in the San Luis Obispo, California census, as Moses Cerf living with Aaron Blochman, Alfred Levy, and Amile Cerf (born 1843, believed to be a brother named Emile who died of typhus fever in 1866). A business partnership was formed known as Blochman and Cerf, Commission Merchants, dealer in wool, hides, grain and produce shipped by steamer or schooner up and down the coast of California. The headquarters of their business in the 1870’s was at Nos. 5 and 7 Drumm Street, San Francisco.  On a printed business receipt, which I am unable to post without permission from the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley, empty spaces would be filled in to indicate how many bales of wool and sacks of wheat, barley, potatoes and beans the company received and would deliver per instructions. Letterhead from the 1880's of A. Blochman and Co., General and Commission Merchants, dealers in grain and wool, San Luis Obispo, CA, shows four companies in small print at the top corners. These businesses are probably working in association with A. Blochman and Co.  They are Blochman and Cerf, 5 and 7 Drumm Street, San Francisco; Zederman and Co., Nipoma [Nipomo]; Kaiser Bros. and Co., Santa Maria; and A. Weill and Co., Los Alamos.

Throughout his life in California, Moise resided primarily in San Francisco, where his wife, Fannie Landeker Cerf, whom he married in 1867, gave birth to almost all of her twelve children between the years 1868 and 1887: Charlotte, Eveline, Barach, Delphine, Myrtile (a son), Eugene, Emelie, Adrienne (born in Santa Cruz, CA), Camille, Laurence, Raymond and Yvon.  Moise was listed as a frequent passenger on local shipping lines between San Francisco and San Luis Obispo.

Ernest lived for many years in San Luis Obispo with his wife, Bobbette Hirsch Cerf, whom he married in 1874 in San Francisco.  Their eight children were born in San Luis Obispo between 1875 and 1886: Charlotte, Marcel, Jeannette, Rebecca, Barry, Lorraine, Emile, and Cedric.  The family eventually moved back to San Francisco.  Here is a copy of Ernest’s French Consulate paper with his marriage documentation on the reverse side.

French Consulate papers for Ernest Cerf

Ernest Cerf's marriage information on reverse side

In San Luis Obispo, Ernest operated a mercantile business on Monterey Street in partnership with Abraham Blochman, Lazarus Kaiser, and Lazare Landeker (brother to Moise’s wife).  The name of the partnership was A. Blochman and Co.  The 1870 San Luis Obispo census indicates Lazarus Kaiser (who became a local banker), Lazare Landeker (a cousin of Lazarus Kaiser), and Morris Zederman lived on one side of Ernest, while Morris Goldtree, another merchant, lived on the other side.

There are many indications that Ernest was respected in the community of San Luis Obispo.  Ernest was a member of King David’s Lodge, serving as a Master Mason in 1873. He is mentioned in an historical diary of San Luis Obispo. The 1884 Diary of Louis Pascual Dallidet mentions an overnight boat trip from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco, where the author meets with E. Cerf, who escorts him around San Francisco while he makes arrangements to enroll in college and to rent a room at a boarding house. Also in the diary, Louis Pascual Dallidet mentions visiting his banker in San Francisco, Cerf and Co.

The Cerf brothers engaged in other business ventures. Blochman and Cerf of No. 14 Spear St., San Francisco, was listed as the agent for IXL Lime Co. of Santa Cruz, CA. IXL Lime Co. was a dealer in Santa Cruz lime, cement, plaster, hair, fire bricks, marble dust, and Monterey sand. Evidence of another business venture appears in a letter dated October 24, 1896, in which Ernest wrote to A. Schilling and Co. regarding sales of tea and spices from Mexico. Ernest also acted as manager of the Tesla Coal Co. located in the California town of Tesla, which no longer exists. The town was located in Alameda County, specifically in Corral Hollow Canyon, twelve miles SE of Livermore and SW of Tracy.

Moise and Ernest aggressively purchased land in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Kern Counties, which will be addressed in a future blog. Also to be discussed in the future is more about the children of Moise and Ernest.

References:

Angel, Myron, History of San Luis Obispo County, California, 1883, Oakland, CA: Thompson and West.

The Louis Pascual Dallidet Diaries, Daniel E. Krieger with Patrick and Eleanor Brown (San Luis Obispo: San Luis Obispo County Historical Society, 1982).

Marcel E. Cerf Collection, Brancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Photos of David and Fanny Levy Lobree

Thank you to David U. for sending these photos of his ancestors, David and Fanny Levy Lobree, and the following information about them.

Fanny Levy Lobree

David Lobree

Fanny Levy Lobree was a sister of Phoebe Levy Cerf. Her husband, David Lobree, is wearing a Prussian Army uniform.  He was a Ulan, which means horseman. Fanny was born in 1842 in Metzervisse, France, and died in 1897. David was born in Poland in 1838 and died in 1910. His father's full name was Ahron Lubranczyk.

The Lobrees were first merchants in the towns of Clayton and Martinez in Contra Costa County, California. After David and Fanny married in San Pablo, California, they moved to Middletown in Lake County, California, where David operated a general store and worked as a Wells Fargo agent. David's nephew, Louis Lobree, was a business partner of Aaron Cerf's at their store in Willits, Mendocino County, California.