Archives West Finding Aid

Paul A. Fusz was born August 5, 1847, at Hericourt in eastern France, the youngest son of Francois and Marie Fusz. In 1853, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1864, Paul decided to enlist in the Confederate Army, but before this could be done, he was arrested by Union troops and jailed in St. Louis. He was pardoned in March 1865, by President Lincoln. With the end of the war, Fusz took a job as an errand boy with the St. Louis firm of Chouteau, Harrison and Valle, with which his older brother, Louis, was associated. Paul rose quickly in the Company until by 1873, he had become general manager in charge of the firm's Laclede Rolling Mills. Fusz held this position until 1886, when he resigned to devote more time to his Montana mining interests. He was a member of the Board of Directors of both the Granite Mountain Mining Company, and the Bi-Metallic Mining Company, located near Philipsburg; but he was also actively involved in all levels of the operation of the two companies. He worked for several years as mine superintendent at Granite and at various times served as treasurer, vice-president, and president. When the two companies merged in 1898, as the Granite-BiMetallic Consolidated Mining Company, Paul Fusz became the new company's president. He served in that capacity until shortly before his death in 1910. During this same period, Fusz was also involved in a wide range of St. Louis businesses, including the American Gem Mining Syndicate, the Goodhope Mining Company, the Desloge Consolidated Lead Company, the Cool Land Syndicate, the Merchants' Bridge, the Iola Street Railway, and numerous banks and savings and loan companies. Fusz was also active in political, civic, and social organizations. He was a Democrat, major general of the Northwest Division of the United Confederate Veterans, a member of the St. Louis school board, and a board member of the Mullanphy Emigrant Aid Fund. Paul Fusz married Grace Hepburn of Philadelphia in 1868. She died in 1892. Paul A. Fusz died February 16, 1910. His Estate was administered by John R. Lucas.