The Kraft Family Tradition of Philanthropy

History and time, unfortunately has a way of letting us forget about people and things.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. and Mrs. Walton about the Kraft Memorial Free Library and Mr. Walton’s great, great Grandparents, Herbert and Elizabeth Kraft.  Mr. Walton is the last living male descendant of the Kraft family and has carried on the philanthropy begun by his great, great grandparents.  The Kraft family was extremely generous in their giving to Red Bluff, providing a park, the first grounds for St. Elizabeth’s hospital, a location for the Women’s Club, scholarships and the Kraft Library with its surrounding grounds and trusts.

Mr. Kraft was a self made man.  He had apprenticed as a tin smith with his father-in-law to be in Louisville, Kentucky and with that skill, hard work, great intelligence, and integrity he segued his few dollars into a financial empire, operated from the heart of Red Bluff.  In 1852 he formed a transcontinental partnership to buy a team of oxen, a wagon and a mule so they could join a wagon train headed west.  Arriving in Sacramento in 1852 with $2.50 to his name, he worked until he could buy the equipment he needed.  Alone and on foot he headed north, going first to Medford, Oregon.  On his way back he stopped in Red Bluff and decided to stay.  He made a deal with the owner of the hardware store on Main Street to practice tinsmithing.  Shortly thereafter he bought the store and by 1860 he had become a relatively wealthy man, which was in no small part due to his business acumen.  He realized with all the cattle and sheep ranching in Tehama and Glenn Counties, owning the franchise for sheep shears would prove fairly lucrative.

It wasn’t long before he was investing in land, which led to farming (20,000 acres of farming!).  He and Leland Stanford were the largest landowners in Tehama and Glenn counties.  In 1872 he went to Eureka and bought the Natural Gas Works, calling it the Kraft Natural Gas Company which he sold in 1875-6, eventually becoming part of PG&E.  He also acquired 8000 acres of old growth, virgin redwood.  He segued this into banking, becoming a shareholder in the German Savings and Loan in San Francisco. 

In 1860 Mr. Kraft went back to Louisville, Kentucky on the eve of the Civil War, and on March 30, 1860 he married 18 year old, Elizabeth Kreuth.  The very next day Elizabeth left for California with her new husband.  What incredible courage, faith and trust she had in her new partner.  They traveled by train, stagecoach, and perhaps ferry to reach Red Bluff where Mr. Kraft had a home being built for his new bride on Rio Street. Mr. Walton related a picture of a couple who adored one another, and when looking at the magnificent library Elizabeth had built in memory of her husband it is not hard to imagine.  The portrait of her that still hangs in the Kraft building, now 100 years later, shows a kind woman, with a twinkle in her eye and the hint of what must have been a delightful smile – almost as if she knows your secrets but would never tell. 

They had six surviving children, two girls and four boys, some of who stayed in Red Bluff.  After the death of her husband in 1895, Elizabeth Kraft moved to Oakland in 1906 to escape Red Bluff’s heat, which has to have been brutal in a two-story house with no air conditioning and the layers of clothing fashionable at the time.  It was 1906 when Mrs. Kraft contacted the city of Red Bluff to ascertain what they thought would be an appropriate gift to the community in honor of her late husband.  A library was their answer, and this was a perfect choice because according to Mr. Walton, Herbert and Elizabeth Kraft had always been advocates of education for everyone.  It states in the trust, which I am certain reflects Elizabeth’s own words “there shall be no restrictions of any kind, based on racial lines, color, or religion”, and I am certain it was meant to include gender. 

How blessed the community of Red Bluff has been to have had the Krafts named among its citizens.  They left an enduring mark on all that they helped develop.  Entrusting one of the most significant pieces of architecture the town has to the community.  Although it may no longer be owned by the city, it is still open to all who wish to visit and will always remain a part of our communities history, of another era, and a gentler time when classical styles and craftsmanship were a part of everyday life – a celebration of small town America.  Hopefully Elizabeth is still smiling as she hears the stories being related to others about ‘life at the Kraft Library’ when it was a gathering place for so many, to enjoy many things, including reading.