Merced County Biographies

REUBEN DAVID FESSLER

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


        Though a comparatively recent accession to the business ranks of 
Cressey, Merced County, Reuben David Fessler is thoroughly satisfied to make 
this part of California his permanent home. Since 1919 he has been associated 
with his brother-in-law, L. H. Moyer, in the general merchandise business at 
Cressey, a prosperous town on the Santa Fe Railroad. This, firm is enjoying a 
lucrative business throughout this section of the county. Reuben David Fessler 
was born on his father's farm near Middleworth, Snyder County, Pa., April 21, 
1895, a son of Franklin Pierce and Lovina ( Benfer) Fessler, both natives of 
Union County, Pa., but of German-Swiss ancestors. Of the eleven children born of 
this union, nine are now living, namely: Sally is the wife of O. B. Sanders, a 
farmer at Beavertown, Pa.; Lettie is the wife of L. H. Moyer, whose sketch may 
be found in this history; Libbie is the wife of Merle Sanders, a farmer in North 
Dakota; Harry resides in Santa Rosa, Cal.; Lena is the wife of W. A. Brubaker, a 
draughtsman, and they reside at Akron, Ohio; Maud lives in Akron, Ohio; Reuben 
David is the subject of this review; Edna is the wife of W. E. Norr and they 
reside in Cleveland, Ohio; Franklin Pierce, Jr., is a tiremaker living at Akron, 
Ohio. Two children died at the ages of twenty-one and fifteen, respectively. The 
mother is still living and makes her home at Centerville, Pa. The father died in 
1924, aged seventy-four.
        Reuben David Fessler received a public school education and grew to 
young manhood on his father's farm of 105 acres in Snyder County, Pa. When he 
reached the age of eighteen he went to North Dakota where, for fourteen years, 
he was associated with his brother in farming pursuits. In 1915 he came to 
California and in 1917 enlisted in Company L, 363rd Infantry; he was sent to 
France and served in the St. Mihiel, Argonne and Flanders campaigns; on 
September 27, 1918, he was wounded by a machine gun missile. He returned to the 
United States and received his honorable discharge at the Presidio, San 
Francisco, April 26, 1919; he then made a visit to his parents in Pennsylvania 
of a few months and upon his return to California became a partner with L. H. 
Moyer as before stated. Mr. Fessler acts as assistant postmaster of Cressey.
        At Cressey, Cal., August 10, 1919, Mr. Fessler was married to Miss Anna 
Christine Jueneman, the eldest daughter of Herman Paul and Eva (Reiter) 
Jueneman, natives of Saxony, Germany and Austria-Hungary, respectively. Her 
father, Herman Paul Jueneman, lives on a farm of sixty-seven acres near Cressey, 
and also owns 186 acres on the islands west of Stockton, Cal. There are eight 
living children in this family, namely: Anna, the wife of our subject; Helena, 
the wife of Marvin McConnell, a farmer of Livingston, Cal.; and Herman, Minnie, 
Emma, Ellwood, Walter, and Willie. Mr. and Mrs. Fessler are the parents of two 
children: Eva Lovina and Francis Franklin. Mr. Fessler was brought up in the 
English Lutheran Church; fraternally, he is affiliated with the Turlock Lodge 
No. 395, F. & A. M.
 
History of Merced County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 810-811