Peter Staub | |
|---|---|
,_1885.png) Official portrait, 1885 | |
| U.S. Consul to St. Gallen, Switzerland | |
| In office 1885–1888 | |
| President | Grover Cleveland |
| Consul General of Switzerland to Knoxville, Tennessee | |
| In office 1869 - 1884 | |
| President | Ulrich Ochsenbein |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Peter Staub February 22, 1827 Glarus, Switzerland[1] |
| Died | May 19, 1904 (aged 77) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Resting place | Old Gray Cemetery |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | Democratic[2] |
| Spouse |
Rosina Blum (m. 1847) |
| Relations | John F. Staub (grandson) |
| Children | 8 |
| Occupation |
|
Johann Peter Staub[3] colloquially Peter Staub (February 22, 1827 – May 19, 1904) was a Swiss-born American businessman, politician, and diplomat. Staub held several public offices, most notably as U.S. Consul to St. Gallen, appointed in 1885 by Grover Cleveland. Previously he served two terms as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee and as Consul of Switzerland in Tennessee from 1869 to 1884, promoting Swiss emigration to the Appalachian region. He was also an important colonizer who helped to established the town of Gruetli-Laager in 1869.
Staub, who was born in Glarus, Switzerland, emigrated to the United States with the trade of tailor in 1854, initially settling in New Jersey. Due to the climate which was not good for his health, he and his wife relocated to Tennessee in 1856. There he was primarily active as serial entrepreneur, opening a tailor shop and investing his profits in real estate. In 1872, he built and opened the city's first opera house, Staub's Theatre. In 1875, he founded the Knoxville Foundry Plant.[4] He also served as trustee of the Lawson McGee Library and as chairman of the Knoxville Water Commission.
- ^ Tennessee Historical Commission marker 2E 43 on TN-108. Information obtained 30 November 2008.
- ^ Oliver Perry Temple, Notable Men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875 (New York: The Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), p. 145.
- ^ Church records, Switzerland
- ^ East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.: The Society, 1972), pp. 489-490, 499.