Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Braun, Fritz July 8, 1882 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com September 18, 2009, 3:58 pm Source: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company FRITZ BRAUN, who owns and conducts an up-to-date lunch room and refreshment parlor in Washougal, is a native son of Clark county, where he has spent much of his life, and is very highly regarded by all who know him. His birth occurred in Washougal, July 8, 1882, on the present site of the Cottage filling station, a son of Fritz and Amelia Braun. According to the records in Vancouver he was the first boy baby to be born at Washougal, of white parents. His father was born April 4, 1826, in Germany, where he was reared and educated, and from that country, at the age of nineteen years, he came to the United States. Landing in New York city, he remained there for about twenty-five years, being employed as a paper hanger and sign painter, which trades he had learned in his native land. In 1870 he went to Portland, Oregon, where he established a coffee shop at the corner of Fourth and Washington streets. In 1878 he moved to Parker’s Landing, Washington, where he bought a hotel from O. C. Brown, tore it down and rebuilt it at Washougal, calling it the Columbia River Hotel, it being the first public house in the city. He ran the place until about 1895, when he sold it to Morris Webber and practically returned from active business. He took an active part in local public affairs, having served as notary public, constable and school superintendent. He was a man of great human sympathy. At that time there was no undertaking establishment in Washougal or Camas and when death visited the neighborhoods, coffins were usually purchased in Portland, and Mr. Braun, being a friend of everybody, acted as undertaker free of charge and in this way endeared himself to the bereaved families of those early days. Being an accomplished singer, he did much singing during his residence in New York city, and later became a member of the Social Turnverein and the Arion Society in Portland. His death occurred June 4, 1917, and his wife, whom he married while living in New York city, died when her son Fritz was but a child. They were the parents of two children, the other being Frances, who is the wife of Samuel Cheatam, of Washougal, and the mother of a daughter, Thelma. Fritz Braun, Jr., attended the public schools and then learned his father’s trade, that of paper hanging, which he followed about three years in Vancouver, during which period he also attended school. Not liking that line of work, he obtained a position in the Belvedere Hotel in Portland, with which he was connected for three years. At the end of that time he returned to Washougal and in 1902 bought the Columbia River Hotel from Morris Webber, conducting it for two years. Returning to the Belvedere Hotel in Portland, he remained there until 1915, and during the two following years was with the Hotel Greenwald in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time of his father’s death, he returned to Washougal and went into business on his own account, establishing a lunch room, stage station and cigar store, in the operation of which he has met with very satisfactory success. Courteous, accommodating and prompt, he has given a high type of service, and his patronage has steadily increased. At Vancouver, Washington, Mr. Braun was married March 20, 1918, to Miss Judith Jarman, a native of Minnesota. He is a member of Vancouver Lodge No. 823, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Wild Life League, and is deservedly popular throughout the range of his acquaintance, being a man of fine character and cordial and friendly manner. He has many warm and loyal friends. Additional Comments: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, Pages 134-135 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/clark/bios/braun58gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 4.3 Kb