Casper Reinhard, born in Bavaria in 1825, immigrated to this country in 1849, locating first in Cincinnati, where he was married, and later relocated to Saint Paul in 1856. According to Newson, Reinhard “followed the somewhat humble occupation of stone cutter and builder; suffered the disastrous financial revulsions of that and the subsequent year, and from that time until his death, August 24, 1866, he labored hard to maintain his family, hewing his way through by the sweat of his brow.”

Jacob Amos, born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, came to this country in approximately 1850, initially settling in Franklin County, Indiana at a time when canal construction in that area employed hundreds of stoneworkers. He moved his family to Saint Paul in 1856, and lived on Bluff Street near Forbes (now Smith). Amos enlisted early in the Civil War, joining the predominantly German Company E of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, rising to the rank of captain, and participating in the central and southern Mississippi campaigns (including Corinth, Vicksburg, Nashville). After the war Amos returned to his old West Seventh Street neighborhood, and is credited as the stonemason for two of the buildings included in this nomination—the Martin Weber House (202 McBoal Street) and the Anthony Waldman House (445 Smith Avenue).

Christian Reinhardt (no known relationship with Casper) began as Amos’ younger business partner and later “fill[ed] numerous local contracts of importance” according to his 1886 obituary, including several additions made to Fort Snelling in 1880. Reinhardt also served as contractor for Forts Assiniboine, Keogh and McGinnis in Montana, and his limestone house at 383 Goodhue is included in this nomination.

John E. O’Brien, born in Ireland in 1834, immigrated to this country in 1849, and learned the trade of stone cutting in New York where he worked on the Genesee valley canal. O’Brien later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and then Keokuk, Missouri, where he continued working at his trade. After arriving in Saint Paul in 1855, he worked on sewers, opened streets, and erected the Opera House, the Court and Union blocks, the Exposition Building and many other structures.

Patrick Leo, born in Ireland in 1838 where he first learned stone masonry, immigrated to New York in 1852, working as a mason for several years; relocated to Saint Paul in 1857, where he laid the stone for Ingersoll’s block and the First National Bank; and later worked at Fort Totten, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Keough and other federal projects.

John Weber, who was born in Switzerland in 1827, worked in New York as a stone cutter for four years, came to Saint Paul in 1856 and worked for six years with B. Presley, stone contractor; traveled further west working in the mines of Idaho, and finally returned to Saint Paul to open up a grocery store on Fort Road.