Charles Eisenbeis was born 10 July, 1832, in Spiesermühle, Germany. (See drawing of the mill at Spiesermühle on right.) His father, Valentin, comes from the mill of his parents at Wellesweiler. Having lost his wife one year after his marriage Valentin lives with Catherine Krohn and from this connection born three illegitimate children, Henrietta, Frederick and Charles. Relatives marry. The couple will have again six children including Ludwig and Sophie. In the Eisenbeis family, much was spoken about the United States. Two families had already left, one in 1821 with six children, the other in 1822 with two children. At the age of 24, Charles and his older brother of two years, Frederick, bent on adventure decide to head for America. The trip will be long: join Nancy where the train Strasbourg - Paris recently put in service will take them to Paris, then Paris-Le Havre where it is necessary to distrust thieves that target particularly foreigners who have money, because they have to pay the crossing and the food.

In 1856 he disembarks to Rochester, New York. His older brother is always with him. From his family, Charles had learned the trade of baker, and he rapidly prospered in this trade while in Rochester. During the height of the Gold Rush, Charles, decides to head west. Despite the apprehension of the trip, and the fact that he is prone to seasickness, he decides to travel to the west coast by the sea. The daughter of Frederick, Miss Lena, declares just before her death that Charles traveled to San Francisco by sailing around Cape Horn. The intended destination of the trip is Steilacoom, today a very small city close to Tacoma to the south west of Seattle. Steilacoom is to the bottom of the estuary Puget Sound, very steep estuary. The trip is undertaken on a slow and small sailboat, the Big Cyprus. In February 1858, approaching the Puget Sound, a tempest rages and during six days it is impossible to approach the coast. The seventh day the wind falls, but then heavy fog settled in. The captain lands instead at Port Townsend , small port to the entry of Puget Sound. Charles Prosch, a passenger, describes this trip. On the top deck he notices a man, Charles Eisenbeis, who is clearly sick, who asks to the captain how much time will be necessary to arrive at Steilacoom. The captain, stoic, replies: " I don't know but the trip has never lasted more three weeks, I think perhaps two weeks". Charles exclaims with a pronounced accent: "Oh mein Gott! I goes overpoard! ". Thus Charles interrupts his trip and disembarks to Port Townsend.

Without money, and with his brother Frederick, Charles begins by doing odd jobs to survive. At that time, the closest supply for bread was Portland, Oregon, so after a few short months of saving money from his odd jobs, he opened The Pioneer Bakery" selling crackers and ships' bread. The business quickly prospered. The site of this shop is found in the site of the magnificent building, 314-316 Water Street. Two later years he finally makes it to Steilacoom, again with his brother. He exerts the same trade successfully during five years. He returns alone to Port Townsend. Port Townsend was growing rapidly during this period. In 1859, there were only three hundred residents in the city, by 1890 there will be seven thousand residents. He buys the site of his first shop. He continues in the trade of making bread, but expands to include the sale of animal feed. He built on the site the first building in stone. It is the beginning of constructions realized by Charles, 1873 the building to the corner of Tylers and Water Street that will be occupied during 12 years by State's customs, quays between Taylors and Van Burens Street that improves the appearance of the city; 1884 a building between Quincy and Water Street. 1890 the Mount Baker Block to the corner of Water and Taylors Street the greatest building of the city; several small residential and commercial real estate. In 1889 he had constructed a manufacture of bricks that fed in material all the city. He realizes the Union Wharf that is an immense commercial quarter by the long of " wharf Eisenbeis". He becomes the lead of the "Group of the Five", the Big Five Syndicate, five persons that control all the economy of the city: the entry ports along the wharfs, the railroad, the first National Bank, several small commercial banks, the steelworks. There is some confusion about the time he married. One account states that he married Elisabeth Berghauser, a native of Prussia, in San Francisco in 1856. Another belief is that he met and married her in Port Townsend at a later date. Elisabeth died in 1882, survived by Charles, two sons and two daughters; Charles Jr, Frederick, Sophia, and Luise. Charles later marries Kate E. Hughs (nee Marsh), a native of England. Charles and Kate have four children, Lillian, Otto, Hilda, and Josephine. There is also some question as to when Charles and Frederick's brother Ludwig and sister Sophie joined them in Port Townsend either traveled with them or have joined them later. One will find them on a list of persons residing Port Townsend under the name of Louis and Sophie Eisenbeis in 1870, and in 1875 in the San Francisco Call Newspaper, there is a listing of the marriages of Louis Eisenbeis to Catharine Bitterle, and "Sopia" Eisenbeisto August Leemann. On February 12, 1878, Charles was elected as the first mayor of the Port Townsend, serving three terms. He was also twice the treasurer of the city and member of the Health Commission . The article "a History of the state of Washington" written by H.K. Hines published in 1893 ends thus: here is summary the life of the most representative man of Port Townsend that with his perseverance, his ambition, the senses of business has conquered poverty, has made a real fortune and has acquired a respectable worthiness. Others, however, have been far less kind. During the depression of the 1890's, America took it's first step to the socialist left. Leftist, denouncing all businessman as greedy and labeling productive citizens as "Robber Barons". This social mood continued to cause great problems for businessmen, and many businesses in Port Townsend failed. With the decline in business, the planned railroad line bypassed Port Townsend contributing further to the decline business. In anticipation of the railway, Charles built the magnificent "Hotel Eisenbeis" with 120 bedrooms and 250 meter of veranda overlooking the proposed railroad terminal. The hotel never opened and was later suspiciously destroyed by fire. As a major holder of property in Port Townsend, Charles was hit more severely by the depression than other local businessmen. To continue paying for the services demanded by the socialists controlling the city at that time, property taxes were imposed and continued to increase. Charles' tax assessment for 1890 was reported to be $82,525.00. But Charles remained optimistic and refused to abandon his town. Even with much of the business ventures failing, Charles and his friend Joe Kuhn donated property and building materials for construction of Hospital in 1890, and in 1892, Charles used the last brick produced by his brickyard to construct a magnificent main home of three floors in brick and stone, with a roof in slate and with the best comfort of that period in which he will live with his family to finally rest after a well active 35 years long life of a pioneer. Charles died 9 March 1902, survived by eight children and his second wife. The day of funeral, the family received a telegram announcing the death of Charles' brother, Frederick, who had remained in Steilacoom. "The newspaper, "Morning Leader" stated in a column in its 13 March 1902 issue that there was a special town council meeting was called to eulogize Charles Eisenbeis".

In 1905, Kate Eisenbeis remarried and the castle was left empty for almost 20 years except for a caretaker. In 1925, a Seattle attorney bought the Castle as a vacation place for nuns teaching in Seattle schools. This plan did not work out well and in l927 the Jesuit priests purchased the building for use as a training college The priests spent their sixteenth and final year of training here studying ascetic theology. In 1920, the Jesuits added a large wing housing a chapel and sleeping rooms. They also installed the elevator (an Otis) at, a cost of $3,400 -- a substantial sum in those days. When their addition was complete, the Jesuits stuccoed over the bricks of the original portion to give the building a more uniform look. They named the complex "Manresa Hall" after the town in Spain where Ignatius Loyola founded the order. The Jesuits left in l968 and the building was converted into a hotel, known as "Manresa Castle",. The three different owners since l968 have all done their part to lovingly renovate the building to modern standards while maintaining its Victorian elegance. For example, there were only 3 bathrooms when the Jesuits left, today there are 43.

Sources of information for the above: Henri Dennis, and others have references about Charles. If you want, you cna contact them. 1)Eisenbeis, Henri "third part of an article wrote September 19,1996 to be publishing in the"Saarheimat" a magazine of Neunkirchen area, ancestor's region of Charles Eisenbeis"
2)Topolnicki, Denise M. "Living Like a Robber Baron", Money Magazine, vacations section, pp 100-101 March 1985.
3)Unnamed source, "Port Townsend: Years That Are Gone".
4)Personal letter from Ray and Tiny (Eisenbeis?), "Profile or Charles Eisenbeis Sr." (but this makes a reference to the "'Port Townsend Leader', date unknown" as it's source of information.
5)Unnamed source, "Charle Eisenbeis House, -1892"
6)Unnamed source, "Assuming Metropolitan Airs"
7)Camfield, Tom "Port Townsend's History", http://www.olympus.net/placesOfInterest/portTownsend/history.html
8)Camfield, Tom "Monumental Excess In 'The Good Old Days'", http://www.olympus.net/placesOfInterest/portTownsend/hotel.html
9)Manresa Castle, http://www.olympus.net/biz/manresa/
10)Marriage listings for 1875, "San Francisco Call" Newpaper
11)Hines, Rev. H.K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Washington", D.D. Chicago: The Lewis Publinshing Company(pp 533-34) 12)The deliberation (E-27) of the Town council of Port Townsend,10 March 1902 about the dead of Charles 13)Hermanson, James, Lead Contributing Writer on news paper "The Port Townsend Jefferson County LEADER",the article "EISENBEIS WAS BUSIEST OF THE BIG FIVE" February 24 1993 14)Port Townsend Call, newspaper, October 4,1887 article "Satisfaction guaranteed in the BREWERY of Charles Eisenbeis !!!" 15)Prosch, Charles, "Reminiscences of Washington Territory", Seattle 1904 pp 7,8&9 The image of the Hotel Eisenbeis said the drawing came "From Port Townsend Illustrated"