Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 399 - 400

GOTTLIEB S. GRIBI, one of the most prominent and wealthy men of Sedgwick County, has not only been successful as a business man, but his personal character is such that he enjoys the esteem and confidence of the entire community. Although the owner of 480 acres of valuable land, he has given his principal attention to the building interests of the city, employing himself largely as a contractor. He represents a large amount of real estate, being owner of the lots and building of the Wichita wholesale grocery house, valued at about $25,000, and has a fine residence with ground adjoining, the whole being valued at $8,000. His farm, which is valued at $16,000, lies between the two Arkansas Rivers, a tract of country finely watered and abundantly fertile. He has great faith in the resources of Southern Kansas, and feels justly proud of the fact that he has been no unimportant factor in its growth and prosperity.

        Our subject was born in the well-known city of Berne, a mountain town of the Alps, in Switzerland, March 27, 1844. His childhood and youth were spent amid the romantic scenes of his native Province, where he acquired a good education in the German tongue. In 1867, when a young man twenty-three years of age, he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade under the instruction of his father, who was one of the largest contractors of the city of Berne, and largely employed in Government contracts. He put up many public buildings and bridges, including the penitentiary in the city of Berne, operated numerous sawmills, and was the proprietor of an establishment more extensive than anything of the kind in this Western country. In the prosecution of his large interests he gave employment to 300 men. He rested from his earthly labors in 1884, and the business is now carried on by his son Alfred, and although perhaps not as extensive as during the lifetime of his father, is still the source of a large income.

        The parents of our subject, Samuel and Anna Gribi, were natives of the same Province as their son, where they spent their entire lives. The mother is still living. The household included five children. Our subject, while a resident of Berne, was united in marriage with Miss Anna Aulthouse, a native of his own country, born also in the city of Berne, Nov. 5, 1841. Her parents were Samuel and Elizabeth Aulthouse, natives of Switzerland, and now both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Gribi commenced life together in Berne, and are now the parents of four children: Emma, born April 4,1869; Anna, Feb. 27, 1871; Lena, Aug. 20, 1874, and John, May 5. 1875. The eldest child was born in Topeka, and the other three in Wichita.

        Mr. Gribi, upon emigrating to the United States, made his way directly westward, and engaged as a carpenter at Topeka from 1867 to 1870. In the spring of the latter year he came to Wichita, and three years later began the business of contractor, in which he has since been so successful. Upon becoming a naturalized American citizen, he identified himself with the Democratic party, and with his estimable wife is a member in good standing of the German Lutheran Church. Socially, he belongs to the I. O. O. F., and has filled all the chairs in his lodge, including that of Past and Noble Grand. He is prompt and reliable in his business transactions, and in all respects one of the solid men in the city.