Logo

16 Facts About Peter Staub

1.

Johann Peter Staub colloquially Peter Staub was a Swiss-born American businessman, politician, and diplomat.

2.

Peter Staub was an important colonizer who helped to established the town of Gruetli-Laager in 1869.

3.

Peter Staub, who was born in Glarus, Switzerland, emigrated to the United States with the trade of tailor in 1854, initially settling in New Jersey.

4.

Peter Staub served as trustee of the Lawson McGee Library and as chairman of the Knoxville Water Commission.

5.

Peter Staub was born February 22,1827 in Glarus, Switzerland, the second of four children, to Jakob Peter Staub and Anna Maria, both of Bilten.

6.

Peter Staub was orphaned when he was eight years old.

7.

Peter Staub rebuilt it, and his tailoring business thrived in the post-war years.

8.

Peter Staub reinvested his profits in real estate in the Knoxville area.

9.

In 1871, Peter Staub announced he was building a three-story opera house at the corner of Gay and Cumberland, across the street from the Lamar House Hotel.

10.

One of the first major buildings designed by Knoxville architect Joseph Baumann, Peter Staub's Theatre measured 52 feet by 128 feet and included a 24-foot main hall, private boxes, a parquette, and a 25-foot by 48-foot stage.

11.

In subsequent decades, Peter Staub's Theatre hosted performances by such diverse groups as Payson's English Opera Troupe, Boston's Mendelssohn Quintette Club, the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, and the Firmin-Jack Comedy Club, as well as lectures and readings, and minstrel shows.

12.

Peter Staub purchased a large tract of land along a remote section of the Plateau in Grundy County in 1869 that provided the core of the Swiss colony of Gruetli.

13.

Peter Staub was elected again in 1881 and spent much of this second term helping the city develop a public waterworks.

14.

In 1869, Peter Staub was appointed consul for the Swiss government in Tennessee.

15.

Peter Staub was injured in a carriage accident on May 18,1904, and died the following day.

16.

Peter Staub is interred in a family plot, crowned by a large marble obelisk, in Old Gray Cemetery.