Jefferson County Online A part of the IAGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects Who's Who in Jefferson County, 1931 Phillip Sauer

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Tuesday, July 14, 1931
Front Page

Who's Who In Jefferson County
By Herbert F. McDougal

PHILLIP SAUER

Phillip Sauer, pioneer baker of Fairfield, holds the record as the oldest merchant in town in point of continued business activity. For forty-eight years he has served the Fairfield public, both as baker and restauranteur, and the number of loaves of bread he has baked and the number of meals he has served run into the thousands upon thousands. Since he began business in 1883, his restaurant has served three meals a day seven days in the week without a break.

During all that time he has occupied but two places of business. He began in the building now occupied by Brown-Lynch-Scott company and remained there until 1905 when he purchased the building at 109 North Court street where he has been since. And while he has kept abreast of progress with the use of improved machinery and the newest methods, he still has one piece of furniture with which he began business, a bread case that is still in use.

Mr. Sauer was born in Germany, at Weisenheim-am-Berg. At the age of thirteen he apprenticed himself to a baker to learn the trade. His term was to be three years, but he paid 300 marks and got off in two. By that time he was a skillful baker, so that when he came to the United States he was able to get work in his trade.

He was seventeen when he left the old country and came direct to Fairfield where his brother-in-law, Daniel Kirchner lived. He spent a little time visiting about, but soon found a job in a bakery in Bloomfield where he worked for $2.50 a week. He was frugal as well as industrious, and so was able during the winter to buy himself an overcoat and pay for it with his savings. Then he came to Fairfield and worked in the Philip Lang bakery in the building where the Fair's clothing department is now located. The building still bears the name "Lang" on the fancy cornice. At first he worked for $5 a week. Then Lang discharged another baker and Mr. Sauer did both men's work for $6 a week. He went to work at midnight, there being an arrangement with the night watchman whereby the young baker was not to oversleep. He labored the rest of the night and until 4 o'clock the next afternoon, his last task being to save out the sourdough for the morrow's start on bread, that being the old method of baking.

One of the things that he remembers of his early days here is the fire that destroyed the east side of the square May 3 1883. The fire apparatus came from Ottumwa in response to an emergency call, but the engine in twenty minutes had the four wells at the corners of the square pumped dry, and all the firemen could do was to stand by and watch the conflagration. All the brick buildings were burned, but a frame store where Messer's harness shop now stands was saved when the fire fighters knocked in the heads of barrels of salt and covered the roof with the salt.

After two years with Lang, Mr. Sauer bought a bankrupt restaurant on the north side and set up in business for himself. He rented a bake oven in another building and used it for awhile, then had one built in his own place of business. The picture accompanying this article shows the north side It was taken in 1896. Mr. Sauer is the man in the middle of the group, wearing the derby and the fierce moustache. The boy on the seat of the delivery wagon is Albert.

Mr. Sauer bought the building at 109 North Court street in 1905 and moved there, pursuing the even tenor of his ways and prospering. His business grew until he was baking 2,000 loaves of bread a day at the peak of prosperity. But it wasn't always easy, especally (sic) back in the days when the women organized the Woman's Exchange and opened up a retail place which they stocked with bread from their own kitchens. That lasted a year, and Mr. Sauer, the only baker in the city at the time, had hard sledding.

In these days when but a few women bake their own bread, it is easy to forget that homemade bread was once the rule in most families, and the baker had to depend upon hotels, restaurants transients and household emergencies for his trade. But as the quality of the bakery product grew better, this all changed until now nomemade bread is the exception. However, Mr. Sauer remembers vividly when every farm yard boasted its hop pole, the beginnings of yeast for the weekly bake.

Mr. Sauer married Miss Albertina Proband May 7, 1885. They have seven children--Mrs Ed Smith of Ottumwa, Phillip Dora, Albert and Daniel, associated with their father in the business, Mrs. Walter Tompers of Boston, Mass., and Mrs. James Welday of Fairfield.