Grunsky, Charles, 1823-1891

Family Chronology

Family History

Charles (Carl) Grunsky left Wurttenberg, Germany in 1844 to immigrate to America. Dissatisfied with his prospects in Saint Louis and Alabama, he came west to California in 1849. After a brief experience in the mines, Charles established a successful transport business in Copperopolis. Charles went home to Wurttenberg in 1852, returning to California with his bride, Clotilde Camerer Grunsky. The Grunsky family settled on a ranch near Stockton. Clotilde Grunsky had seven children from 1853-1863. After Clotilde's death in 1864, Charles married Frederika (Charlotte Louise) Camerer in 1866. Fredricka had three children before her death in 1874. Charles married a third time, to Anna Marie Follert Wurster in 1876. Anna had the last of Charles' eleven children. Charles died in 1891.

Carl Ewald Grunsky was born to Charles and Clotilde in 1855. After graduating from high school, Grunsky continued his education in Stuttgart Germany, graduating as a Doctor of Engineering 1877. Returning to California, he worked with the State Engineering Department of California and the Examining Commission on Rivers and Harbors of California. Grunsky continued in private practice while consulting for the San Francisco Sewage Commission, the Commissioner of Public Works of California, and as San Francisco's first City Engineer from 1901-1904. Grunsky was a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1904-1905 then a consulting engineer with the U.S. Reclamation Service from 1905-1907, while continuing private practice in New York and San Francisco. Grunsky was an active member of many organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Pacific Coast Technology Society, the Commonwealth Club of California, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected a resident member of the California Academy of Sciences in 1896 and was the Academy's President from 1912 until his death in 1934.

Carl Ewald Grunsky married Martha Kate Powers in 1883, and they had four children. Martha Kate Power's father, Aaron Hubbard Powers, came to California in 1949 by Cape Horn. Carl Ewald and Martha Kate's sons, Carl Ewald Jr. and Eugene Lucius, followed their father's footsteps and became engineers. One daughter, Clotilde Grunsky Taylor, an editor and graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, researched the family genealogy and wrote books from the family correspondence. Clotilde Grunsky Taylor donated the family papers and her research in 1955.

From the guide to the Grunsky Family Papers, 1830-1969, (The Bancroft Library)