Bertha Preggen of San Francisco

Found Photo: Bertha Preggen of San Francisco

Name(s): Bertha Preggen (possibly Preggena or Praggen)
Date: N/A
Location: San Francisco, California

Bertha is likely found in this 1900 Census record, living at 2202 Powell Street in San Francisco with her widowed mother Annie, brother Henry and sister Louisa. Her father was Louis Preggen, a brewer. Both of Bertha's parents were born in Germany. Bertha was born in October 1877, and she and both her siblings were born in California.

Interestingly, Bertha can be found in a second 1900 Census record, in the household of her employers, Charles and Francisca Bundschu. Bertha worked for them as a domestic servant. The Bundschu family lived at 245 Chestnut Street, just a few blocks from the Preggen home on Powell. Charles Bundschu was a wealthy man and a notable figure in San Francisco society. In 1868, he partnered with Jacob Gundlach in a wine business, and married Gundlach's sister. The brothers-in-law operated their business from San Francisco, but both that business and Bundschu's home on Chestnut Street were destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake. They moved the operations to Sonoma, where the popular Gundlach Bundschu Winery still thrives. It is now run by Charles' great-great grandson.

I cannot find any records for Bertha after 1900. The 1906 earthquake killed 3,000 people and displaced nearly half a million. It's possible Bertha was killed, and also possible she had to relocate after the fire destroyed her neighborhood.

Bushnell Photography Studio was founded by Frederick Bushnell. A successful entrepreneur, he owned multiple studios in several California cities. After Bushnell's death in 1903, his San Francisco studio carried on under his name, but with new owners, for about two decades.