The second son and third child of Alois and Maria Biner was Gottfried, born October 8, 1859, in Randa. We know virtually nothing about this man even though he was the first to emigrate to America. Nevertheless, it is because of Gottfried, who went by Frederick and Fred in America, that I was able to hook up with my cousin Manuela. I had found his burial location on Find a Grave and left a message about him being the brother of my great grandfather Theophil and a son of Alois. Manuela, while researching her great-grandmother Emma Biner back in Switzerland came upon my post and reached out. The Swiss and American Biners were finally reconnected, thanks to the mysterious Fred.
Gottfried arrived in Miles City, Montana Territory in the early 1880s as a young man in his twenties. Why he chose Montana we can only speculate. Perhaps it reminded him of his homeland. The name means mountainous and there is even a village of Montana in Valais. His name appears in the Weekly Yellowstone Journal of Miles City in the months of March and April 1886 for purchasing shares in the Miles City Building Association. His brother Theophil, whom Gottfied had lured to Miles City, also bought some shares. But it is not known if the brothers profited from their investment. By 1889 both were living on the other side of the immense territory in the town of Boulder. There Gottfried changed his name to Frederick. Frederick was a carpenter, as was his older brother.
He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on September 14, 1889. From Boulder, we do not know where he went, though he may have also lived in Tumwater, Washington in the early 20th century helping Theophil build the original Olympia Brewery. But he does not appear in any census records. The reality is that after his naturalization we lose track of Fred until he pops up twenty years later in Benicia, California, near San Francisco. He lived at 704 First Street, which was also his carpentry shop. The building is now the Farm and Flour Store. Biner is listed in the city directory as a carpenter, but if he had a wife or children, we do not know. He does not appear in the 1900 or 1910 census. And of course, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire – the bane of all American genealogists. Fred died on 12/12/12 (December 12, 1912) at the age 53 in Solano, California. He must have been alone and penniless because he was buried in the Old County Hospital Cemetery in nearby Fairfield, used specifically for the indigent. It is believed that nearly 400 bodies were buried there in canvas bags between 1877 and 1920. According to the website Find a Grave, "the last remains of the Old County Hospital and cemetery are gone. In their place is a lovely park known as Tabor Park."
On the website Historical Articles of Solano County, the author Jerry Bowen wrote that the Old County Hospital "was built in the vicinity of the northwest corner of today's Tabor Park and a cemetery was located behind it, probably on the school grounds of today's Richardson School. The 30,000-square-foot cemetery with about 389 bodies was abandoned somewhere about 1917 to 1920 and was used as a sheep grazing area by a rancher, William B. O'Connor who bought the land. The few wooden markers that existed eventually disappeared altogether." And so, the bones of Gottfried Biner, second son of the once-wealthy Alois, rest unmarked in an old "Potter's Field" beneath either Richardson School or Tabor Park in Fairfield, California, thousands of miles from his birthplace of Randa, Switzerland, where his mother Maria still lived when he died.
Gottfried arrived in Miles City, Montana Territory in the early 1880s as a young man in his twenties. Why he chose Montana we can only speculate. Perhaps it reminded him of his homeland. The name means mountainous and there is even a village of Montana in Valais. His name appears in the Weekly Yellowstone Journal of Miles City in the months of March and April 1886 for purchasing shares in the Miles City Building Association. His brother Theophil, whom Gottfied had lured to Miles City, also bought some shares. But it is not known if the brothers profited from their investment. By 1889 both were living on the other side of the immense territory in the town of Boulder. There Gottfried changed his name to Frederick. Frederick was a carpenter, as was his older brother.
He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on September 14, 1889. From Boulder, we do not know where he went, though he may have also lived in Tumwater, Washington in the early 20th century helping Theophil build the original Olympia Brewery. But he does not appear in any census records. The reality is that after his naturalization we lose track of Fred until he pops up twenty years later in Benicia, California, near San Francisco. He lived at 704 First Street, which was also his carpentry shop. The building is now the Farm and Flour Store. Biner is listed in the city directory as a carpenter, but if he had a wife or children, we do not know. He does not appear in the 1900 or 1910 census. And of course, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire – the bane of all American genealogists. Fred died on 12/12/12 (December 12, 1912) at the age 53 in Solano, California. He must have been alone and penniless because he was buried in the Old County Hospital Cemetery in nearby Fairfield, used specifically for the indigent. It is believed that nearly 400 bodies were buried there in canvas bags between 1877 and 1920. According to the website Find a Grave, "the last remains of the Old County Hospital and cemetery are gone. In their place is a lovely park known as Tabor Park."
On the website Historical Articles of Solano County, the author Jerry Bowen wrote that the Old County Hospital "was built in the vicinity of the northwest corner of today's Tabor Park and a cemetery was located behind it, probably on the school grounds of today's Richardson School. The 30,000-square-foot cemetery with about 389 bodies was abandoned somewhere about 1917 to 1920 and was used as a sheep grazing area by a rancher, William B. O'Connor who bought the land. The few wooden markers that existed eventually disappeared altogether." And so, the bones of Gottfried Biner, second son of the once-wealthy Alois, rest unmarked in an old "Potter's Field" beneath either Richardson School or Tabor Park in Fairfield, California, thousands of miles from his birthplace of Randa, Switzerland, where his mother Maria still lived when he died.
The second son and third child of Alois and Maria Biner was Gottfried, born October 8, 1859, in Randa. We know virtually nothing about this man even though he was the first to emigrate to America. Nevertheless, it is because of Gottfried, who went by Frederick and Fred in America, that I was able to hook up with my cousin Manuela. I had found his burial location on Find a Grave and left a message about him being the brother of my great grandfather Theophil and a son of Alois. Manuela, while researching her great-grandmother Emma Biner back in Switzerland came upon my post and reached out. The Swiss and American Biners were finally reconnected, thanks to the mysterious Fred.
Gottfried arrived in Miles City, Montana Territory in the early 1880s as a young man in his twenties. Why he chose Montana we can only speculate. Perhaps it reminded him of his homeland. The name means mountainous and there is even a village of Montana in Valais. His name appears in the Weekly Yellowstone Journal of Miles City in the months of March and April 1886 for purchasing shares in the Miles City Building Association. His brother Theophil, whom Gottfied had lured to Miles City, also bought some shares. But it is not known if the brothers profited from their investment. By 1889 both were living on the other side of the immense territory in the town of Boulder. There Gottfried changed his name to Frederick. Frederick was a carpenter, as was his older brother.
He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on September 14, 1889. From Boulder, we do not know where he went, though he may have also lived in Tumwater, Washington in the early 20th century helping Theophil build the original Olympia Brewery. But he does not appear in any census records. The reality is that after his naturalization we lose track of Fred until he pops up twenty years later in Benicia, California, near San Francisco. He lived at 704 First Street, which was also his carpentry shop. The building is now the Farm and Flour Store. Biner is listed in the city directory as a carpenter, but if he had a wife or children, we do not know. He does not appear in the 1900 or 1910 census. And of course, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire – the bane of all American genealogists. Fred died on 12/12/12 (December 12, 1912) at the age 53 in Solano, California. He must have been alone and penniless because he was buried in the Old County Hospital Cemetery in nearby Fairfield, used specifically for the indigent. It is believed that nearly 400 bodies were buried there in canvas bags between 1877 and 1920. According to the website Find a Grave, "the last remains of the Old County Hospital and cemetery are gone. In their place is a lovely park known as Tabor Park."
On the website Historical Articles of Solano County, the author Jerry Bowen wrote that the Old County Hospital "was built in the vicinity of the northwest corner of today's Tabor Park and a cemetery was located behind it, probably on the school grounds of today's Richardson School. The 30,000-square-foot cemetery with about 389 bodies was abandoned somewhere about 1917 to 1920 and was used as a sheep grazing area by a rancher, William B. O'Connor who bought the land. The few wooden markers that existed eventually disappeared altogether." And so, the bones of Gottfried Biner, second son of the once-wealthy Alois, rest unmarked in an old "Potter's Field" beneath either Richardson School or Tabor Park in Fairfield, California, thousands of miles from his birthplace of Randa, Switzerland, where his mother Maria still lived when he died.
Gottfried arrived in Miles City, Montana Territory in the early 1880s as a young man in his twenties. Why he chose Montana we can only speculate. Perhaps it reminded him of his homeland. The name means mountainous and there is even a village of Montana in Valais. His name appears in the Weekly Yellowstone Journal of Miles City in the months of March and April 1886 for purchasing shares in the Miles City Building Association. His brother Theophil, whom Gottfied had lured to Miles City, also bought some shares. But it is not known if the brothers profited from their investment. By 1889 both were living on the other side of the immense territory in the town of Boulder. There Gottfried changed his name to Frederick. Frederick was a carpenter, as was his older brother.
He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on September 14, 1889. From Boulder, we do not know where he went, though he may have also lived in Tumwater, Washington in the early 20th century helping Theophil build the original Olympia Brewery. But he does not appear in any census records. The reality is that after his naturalization we lose track of Fred until he pops up twenty years later in Benicia, California, near San Francisco. He lived at 704 First Street, which was also his carpentry shop. The building is now the Farm and Flour Store. Biner is listed in the city directory as a carpenter, but if he had a wife or children, we do not know. He does not appear in the 1900 or 1910 census. And of course, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire – the bane of all American genealogists. Fred died on 12/12/12 (December 12, 1912) at the age 53 in Solano, California. He must have been alone and penniless because he was buried in the Old County Hospital Cemetery in nearby Fairfield, used specifically for the indigent. It is believed that nearly 400 bodies were buried there in canvas bags between 1877 and 1920. According to the website Find a Grave, "the last remains of the Old County Hospital and cemetery are gone. In their place is a lovely park known as Tabor Park."
On the website Historical Articles of Solano County, the author Jerry Bowen wrote that the Old County Hospital "was built in the vicinity of the northwest corner of today's Tabor Park and a cemetery was located behind it, probably on the school grounds of today's Richardson School. The 30,000-square-foot cemetery with about 389 bodies was abandoned somewhere about 1917 to 1920 and was used as a sheep grazing area by a rancher, William B. O'Connor who bought the land. The few wooden markers that existed eventually disappeared altogether." And so, the bones of Gottfried Biner, second son of the once-wealthy Alois, rest unmarked in an old "Potter's Field" beneath either Richardson School or Tabor Park in Fairfield, California, thousands of miles from his birthplace of Randa, Switzerland, where his mother Maria still lived when he died.
Gravesite Details
Death Cert. Book Pg. 101
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