AUGUST GRETH 1881-1957

Greth Airship, 1903.10.18 from the original Post Card Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

 

Greth Gondola, 1903.10.18 Copy of the original Post Card Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Regina Gaughan Gutierrez, 3-20-06 Mr. Cooper,      I was trying to research family history and came across your site. I believe August Greth is my paternal great uncle. My mom has a newspaper clipping about his dirigible flight. The story is that he came to the US with his brother Joseph (my great grandfather) from Alsace Lorraine, and a sister who died when they got to New York. Joseph ended up a doctor in Mexico and August went to San Francisco.      For your in memoriam section, I believe he died in 1957 and had one son. I found this information on the Social Security database.

If you have gotten any other information regarding August Greth, would you please share it with me? Thank you so much, Regina Gaughan Gutierrez Editor's Note:Dr. Greth's great grandson, Stephen Sutherland, reports that the middle name was Arthur instead of Charles, as it appears on the Social Security database above.

 

American Aerial Navigation Company Collection of Diana Brunello, 2-3-06

These certificates were purchased by my Great Grandmother, Jennie Williams. I don't think any dollar amount a collector could come up with could match the sentimental value they hold for me. I wonder how many women in the 1900's were purchasing stock in their own name in ventures like this. She was definitely way ahead of her times and lived her life accordingly. I can just imagine her traveling from Santa Rosa, about 60 miles north of San Francisco, to see the flight herself in 1903. The certificate will remain hanging in my hallway a wonderful reminder of my great grandmother.      I want to thank you for your wonderful web site. I have been looking for information on many of these old certificates my Great grandmother had purchased for quite some time. Unfortunately, I had been unsuccessful on all attempts until I put in August Greth and came upon your site. I thoroughly enjoyed it and all the information it provided. Sincerely, Diana Brunello

 

Jennie Williams Great Grandmother of Diana Brunello Collection of Diana Brunello, 2-5-06

 

EDITOR'S NOTES      I thank Diana for sharing this precious piece of memorabilia and the photograph of her great grandmother with us. Beyond its historical value, it demonstrates the care with which these documents were produced and the attention to artistic detail which was lavished on them. The date, October 31, 1902, establishes the timeframe of the purchase. Of special interest are the signatures of J. S. Stanton and August Greth. Out of curiosity, I did search on the name "J. S. Stanton," using Google, but did not find any relevant links. So for the moment, he remains a shadowy figure in this enterprise.

 

FAMILY NOTES via email from Stephen Sutherland, 12-20-07 Dear Mr. Cooper,      Dr. Greth was my Great Grandfather. One of his son's, Frank, is my mothers father. Franks middle name was Arthur, not Charles. Frank died in Alhambra, CA in 1919, when my mother was 6 months old.      Thank you for honoring his work with your site. A few updates for you. He did enter the US via New York. He died in the late 30's in Los Angeles. I think it was 1937. My mother is still alive at 89 years old. Her brother is now 90. Sincerely, Stephen Sutherland..

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "August Greth", using the Google search engine, (2-4-06), you will find about 23 links. Perhaps the most helpful are the following. You will probably want to follow some of the other links, as time permits.

 

Forensic Geneology      On this website, which is devoted to explaining "how to analyze photographs, to mine databases, and to use DNA analysis to reveal family history," Susan Fortune has offered a remarkable revue of the exploits of Dr. Greth as the answer to one of the featured quizzes. On the page you will find a beautiful photograph of Dr. Greth's balloon and her findings which she discovered regarding his life and career. This is perhaps the richest source of information yet available on the net. You can access it by clicking on the title.      If time permits, you may want to go to the homepage of the site to learn more about this techmique.

 

The Aerodrome Forum      This forum hosts a series of messages from several fans who offer many valuable facts about Dr. Greth's activities. They also include many links to sites with more information on his exploits as well as related pioneer efforts. You can access the page by clicking on the title above. You should plan to use the FIND function on "Greth" repeatedly on the page to find all of the many entries.

 

THE CALIFORNIA EAGLE by John H. Lienhard      "Two dirigibles compete for priority. The first was Dr. August Greth's California Eagle. Greth came to America from Europe with some knowledge of early French airships. He formed a company to build a dirigible in San Francisco in 1897."      This paragraph was taken from the extensive article on Dr. Greth written by John H. Lienhard. To read the entire fascinating article, just click on the title above.

 

August Greth appears to have died in 1957.

 

Editor's Note: If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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