Vitus, Bruno C

From Lane Co Oregon

BRUNO C. VITUS

Prominently identified with the business interests of Eugene is Bruno C. Vitus, a successful farmer and realty owner, residing at No. 184 East Thirteenth street. He was born in Dunkirk, New York, December 17, 1852, his parents being Augustus J. F. and Minnie (Behren) Vitus. The father was born in Prussia, Germany, April 5, 1828. His antecedents were farmers although numerous trades were represented among them in the fatherland.

Starting out in life at the early age of fourteen Augustus J. F. Vitus began working in the silk mills of his native land, where he learned weaving. He worked as a weaver until 1852, when, becoming convinced that the new world held opportunities far superior to those of his native land, he set sail for America, the passage occupying five weeks. Being unable to find work at his trade in New York, he obtained employment in a tannery in Dunkirk, where he remained during the winter and the spring following his arrival on American soil. He subsequently obtained employment in the woolen mills of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1865, when he removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he secured similar employment. In 1872 he took up his residence in Caldwell county, Missouri, purchasing one hundred acres of land, upon which he contemplated making substantial improvements and passing the remainder of his life. Misfortune overtook him, however, as a severe drouth ruined his crops and so crippled him financially that he was unable to meet his second payment on the land, which he accordingly lost. Courageously, however, he faced his first serious business calamity and decided to press westward to the Pacific slope. In the spring of 1878 he arrived with his family in Albany, Oregon, where he and his sons found employment on the surrounding farms. In the following spring, in company with his sons, who for many years had been in partnership with their father, he rented a farm in Lane County, upon which they began to work most enthusiastically. This venture also proved disastrous and at the end of a year the family found themselves facing debts amounting to four thousand dollars. After renting for five years they decided to purchase a farm, for which they were obliged to go into debt to the extent of twelve thousand dollars. Such a burden would have discouraged the average person but the father and sons set bravely to work and within a reasonable time the obligations were all met and the family was thoroughly established both in its credit and in the respect and esteem of the community. The father is a broad-minded, liberal man in every way. He is a republican in politics, but has always believed in the policy of supporting the best man for the office, regardless of party affiliation. He has never been an office seeker and has held but one political office, that of postmaster of Junction City. Through his marriage with Minnie Behren in 1851 he became the father of five sons and three daughters, of whom the subject of this review was the second in order of birth. Mr. Vitus, though well advanced in years, retains his mental and physical faculties to a remarkable degree.

The early youth of Bruno C. Vitus, the subject of this sketch, was passed principally in Philadelphia, the family removing to that city when he was quite young. When he was twelve years of age they removed to Springfield, Illinois, and in that state he attended school for nine years, securing a good education. He remembers well the funeral of President Lincoln, which occurred in Springfield shortly after the arrival of the family in that city. In 1873, at about the time he attained his majority, the family removed to Breckenridge county, Missouri, where the father and sons engaged in farming, this venture proving unsuccessful. In 1878 they came to Oregon and at the time of their arrival were in very straitened circumstances, it being necessary for the father and sons to immediately secure employment in order to provide for the necessities of the family. The greater part of their capital was invested in a cook stove and provisions, and with the money they were able to earn they succeeded in getting along. The close family ties continued to be expressed evenin business relations and after the subject of this review had long since attained his majority the father and sons worked together in what was practically a copartnership. They rented and operated land at first unsuccessfully, incurring a large indebtedness upon which they were forced to pay fifteen per cent interest. Courageously, however, they pressed forward and decided in the face of all the unfortunate events which had characterized their farming experiences that they would purchase a farm of their own. They purchased the land entirely on credit and after settling upon this farm fortune smiled upon them and they were enabled in a few years to pay a sum which in the end amounted to more than twenty-five thousand dollars, as they continued to add to their first land purchase, and thus, the property became their own without any incumbrance whatsoever. On this farm in the early days they made as much as thirteen thousand dollars in a single year on grain and stock. The farm comprises six hundred and ninety-five acres and on it the father and his four sons labored continuously for sixteen years, establishing a standing of the highest order and a reputation surpassed by none in the community, and succeeding to a remarkable degree in their business operations. In 1894 Bruno Vitus, having saved a considerable amount from his earnings, bought a magnificent farm two and one-half miles northeast of Springfield, which he now has sold. He has a fine home in Eugene and fifty lots in an addition in the south part of the city. Besides this he has other properties in various parts of the county and in Springfield, where he is now erecting a large two-story brick building.

For his helpmate in life Mr. Vitus chose Miss Dorothy Blume, to whom he was married in 1900, a daughter of Hon. John F. and Henrietta (Kriesel) Blume. Mr. and Mrs. Vitus are the parents of two children, Maurice and Cosima Dorothy. Mrs. Vitus is a woman of liberal education, is well read and takes an unusual interest in all the great questions which tend to enhance the public good. She is a great reader and history is one of the subjects in which she is especially interested. Fraternally Mr. Vitus is a member of Eugene Lodge, No. 357, B. P. 0. E. In 1910 he retired from the more active labors of farm life and is now residing in Eugene, his attention being devoted principally to the supervision of his varied interests. He is a broad-minded man who takes a great interest in all public improvements and now serves as county road supervisor, this being his second year in the office. As he is essentially self-made his prominence rests not upon the achievements of his father or other members of the family but rather upon his own hard work, coupled with wisely directed efforts and business acumen. He exerts a wide influence in the county and city of which he is a resident and enjoys the confidence and respect of a large proportion of the citizens of Lane County and by all who know him he is held in high esteem.

[Gaston, Joseph. "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912." Vol. 2. Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., [1912]. p. 567.]