Marcel E. Cerf Memorabilia

Marcel E. Cerf might have been a bit of a packrat, and I for one am glad.  He saved boxes of memorabilia related to the Cerf family and his law practice, which were donated to the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley upon his death. Before describing what information is available in the Marcel E. Cerf Collection, l will tell you briefly about his life.

Marcel E. Cerf passport photo

Marcel E. Cerf, 1877-1935, was one of eight children born to Ernest and Bobbette Hirsch Cerf in San Luis Obispo, California. After graduating from U.C. Berkeley in 1897 and Hastings Law School in 1900, Marcel practiced general law in San Francisco. In 1913, he was appointed by California Governor Hiram W. Johnson as a Judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco. Two years later, he retired to private practice after apparently failing to win re-election. He later became an assistant professor of law at Hastings Law School.

In 1935, Marcel was recommended for a federal judgeship by United States Senator William G. McAdoo. Marcel and his wife, an heir to the Colton Estate (of Union Pacific Railroad), traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Roosevelt. A few hours before the meeting, Marcel suffered a stroke, dying about three weeks later at home in San Francisco.

The Marcel E. Cerf Collection

This collection is divided into nine units, most of which relate to Marcel’s law practice, his investments, and his judgeship. There are two units, which ended up being four cartons, that I found interesting enough to look through when I visited in 1991. My description includes the notes I made as I went through the cartons. At the time, I wasn't planning on publishing these notes; they are sometimes sketchy, though I hope some of this will be helpful to anyone who wants to access the material.

Carton 1

Unit I, composed of Carton 1, deals with the business affairs of Marcel's father, Ernest Cerf; his uncle, Moses Cerf; and A. Blochman and Company, during 1863-1893, in San Luis Obispo, California. Carton 1 contained mostly bills, ledgers, receipts, and deeds. Specifically, I took notes of the following:

Carton 1 Notes

·         Various promissory notes and statements of account for customers of IXL Lime Co. of Santa Cruz, for which Blochman and Cerf were listed as agents.

·         Statements of merchandise sold to Ernest Cerf, etc., 1893.

·         Deposit slips for Commercial Bank, SLO, 1891.

·         Delivery slips of Pacific Coast Steamship Co., 1891.

·         Receipt from The Tribune, SLO, for an advertisement dated June 29, 1892, cost of $.50.

·         City of SLO tax receipts, 1892.

·         Pacific Coast Matzo Bakery, 323 Front St., SLO, 50 lbs. matzos for $5.

·         Bank statement for Ernest Cerf, May 10, 1893, Commercial Bank, SLO, balance in account $433.77, most checks payable to “myself.”

·         Papers for Lazarus M. Kaiser, including member papers for Odd Fellows Lodge, Chorro Lodge No. 168, 1872.

·         Papers for Solomon Kaiser, Knights of Pythies, for membership section 147.

·         Papers of Moses Cerf, 1872.

·         Power of attorney of A. Blochman to Moses Cerf, 1870.

·         Many deeds, approximately 50, recording purchases by Ernest Cerf from the SLO Tax Collector who was selling land for nonpayment of taxes by former owners.

·         Other deeds and mortgages of property purchased and sold in San Luis Obispo County.

·         Several land grants for school purposes from the State of California to Bryce Patrick and others (why this was in there, I don't know).

·         Grant in 1874 of 150,000 acres for agricultural college purposes in SLO, and for 40 acres for use by A. Warner Rose.

·         Deed for land purchased in Santa Barbara County called Rancho Los Alamos for $8,000 in 1875.

·         Letters about mines and mining to Ernest Cerf.

Carton 31

Unit VIII contains six boxes (cartons 28-33), dealing with personal items related to Marcel’s work and the Cerf family. Carton 31 is listed as containing “items of personal interests to the Cerf family, receipts, bills, check stubs, newspapers of election and sports, history with names of brothers Cedric and Barry appearing, who also attended the Univeristy of California, one a football captain, organizer of Associate Students.  Packet of personal and business correspondence (1907-1914). Some unidentified lists of names.” My notes from investigating Carton 31 are:

Carton 31 Notes

·         Lots of newspaper clippings on events.

·         Correspondence from Mr. Sinsheimer, San Francisco, to E. Cerf at San Francisco and at Tesla, Alameda Co. (1905).

·         Letter from Ernest Cerf from SLO in 1891 to Ma chere Rosalie, written in French.

·         Letter Ernest Cerf wrote on October 24, 1896, to his employer, A. Schilling and Co., from Mexico about selling tea, spices, etc.

·         Deed for sale of property at Steiner St., San Francisco, from Bobbette Cerf and Ernest Cerf, her husband, to Fanny Rothschild for $7,000.

·         Letter of July 3, 1914, from law offices of Loeb and Loeb (Joseph P. Loeb and Edwin Jacob Loeb) to Marcel.

·         A. McAlister and Co., SLO, letter dated August 22, 1913, to Marcel regarding land in the Estate of Ernest Cerf.

·         French Consulate document of 1872 regarding Mr. Cerf.

Carton 32 

Carton 32 contains “early pictures of San Luis Obispo, California, California Missions, and miscellaneous picture postcards. Box of titles on Hawaiian Islands with lists of same titles and scrap book on Islands. Folder of miscellaneous maps of California counties, properties and railroad; items of a trip to New Zealand with University of California football team, also a few University of California school mementos."

Carton 32 Notes

·         Old postcards from France circa 1930’s and letters describing country markets.  Looks like someone wanted to write a book or an article. These were sent to Barry Cerf, 2207 Dwight Way, Berkeley.

·         Photographs of Tesla Coal Mine, Alameda, CA, 1903.

·         Four photos that look like early pictures of the San Luis Obispo Mission with a bell tower.

·         Photo of the Bank of SLO by R.R.R. Holmes, Artist.

·         Postcards (various scenes) sent to E. William Cerf, Esq. (Marcel’s brother, Emile William Cerf), to address in care of Cerro de Pasco Smelter, La Fundicion, Peru, South America, 1909. One was from Marcel and one from brother Cedric.

·         Photo of man with a note at the bottom, “Joseph S. Conte.”

·         Photo of brother Cedric and rugby team in Australia with a note at the bottom, “The Wallabies” 1908-9.

·         Postcard of Coast Line U.S.M. Stage Co., by Lewis, Monterey St., SLO.

·         Photo of the interior of Second New Jerusalem Church, Lyon and Washington Streets, San Francisco, Rev. Joseph Worcester.

·         U.C. Berkeley 1909 Junior Class Day, address by Mr. Cedric Salma Cerf, President of class.

·         Souvenirs of Cedric’s trip to Australia.

Carton 33 

Carton 33 contains “folders of unidentified lists of persons, names and addresses; several scrap books. Two scrap books of Judge Cerf’s, showing his campaigning for re-election in 1914 and his court decisions (1913-1916)."

Carton 33 Notes

·         Ledger of A. Blochman and Co.

·         Folder F, wedding reception of Ernest Cerf and Bobbette Hirsch, September 6, 1874.

·         Demand Note of Blochman, Jr., for $25,326, dated May 1889, payable to Joseph Weil.

·         Ernest Cerf’s appointment as Master Mason of King David’s Lodge No. 209, October 7, 1873.

·         Estate of Lazare Landeker, Ernest Cerf executor.  [More on this in a future blog]

·         Deed selling property at Higuera and Marsh from Alice Landeker to Luigi Marri and Ernest Cerf for $5 on February 23, 1884.

·         Statement of Galeta Lands, various parcels, totaling $4,322.27, in a box labeled Blochman.

·         Tax receipts for San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties.

·         Letterhead of A. Blochman and Co. with associates marked on in upper corners: Blochman and Cerf, San Francisco; Zederman and Co., Nipomo; Kaiser Bros. and Co., Santa Maria; and A. Weill and Co., Los Alamos.

·         Subscription to build San Luis Hotel Co.

·         Deed dated February 28, 1873 from David Mallagh to A. Blochman and Moses Cerf for $3,000.

·         Patent for Land to John Harford dated May 1, 1869.

·         Complaint in the case of Blochman vs. Goldtree.

·         Agreement of February 11, 1873 between Blochman, Cerf, and Mallagh.

·         Letter dated January 26, 1873 from Mallagh.

·         Lease of Blochman, Cerf, and Goldtree Bros. to Goodall, Nelson and Perkins of People’s Wharf for five years for $250 per month, dated January 2, 1874.

Visiting Bancroft Library to view the Collection

The Marcel E. Cerf Collection is located in a library storage facility in the city of Richmond. If you want to see the collection, contact the Bancroft Library in advance. If visiting during the school year, it is advised to arrive early in the day as there can be waiting lists to get into the reading room. Photocopies of documents have to be ordered as many of the items are very fragile.

I spent the better part of one day going through the above four cartons. There were so many items in the cartons, and I may have missed some items of significance. My notes only highlight the items I found personally interesting.

References:

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

Photo and newspaper clipping found on Ancestry.com.