Mabel Augusta Kress

Other Events:

• Name: Mabel Augusta Bingham
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-350822
• Residence: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Anglican
• Residence: 1958, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Mabel — George Hugo K. Bingham. George was born 1892; died 1965; was buried , Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Business: Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Kress Hotel
• Name: William Kress
• Name: Willie Kress
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-350819
• Occupation: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Not Given
• Residence: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper
• Occupation: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper, Hotel
• Residence: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1958, 700 Rockway Dr., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

William F. KressA former owner of the Kress Hotel in Preston, WilliamFrederick Kress, 88, of 700 Rockway Drive, died today, at his residence. Born April 14, 1871, in Preston,he was a son of the late Christopher Kress and his wife, the former Barbara Reichert. He was a member of Preston lodge, AF and AM. He was the last surviving member of his family. Surviving are a son, Wilbur of St. Thomas and a daughter, Mrs. G. H. K. (Mabel) Bingham of Kitchener. There also is one grandchild. His wife, the former Mary Jane Holland, predeceased him Oct. 17, 1958. The body is at the Schreiter Sandrock Funeral Home, where funeral services will be conducted Tuesday, at 2 p.m. Rev A. W. Millstone will officiate. Burial will be in Preston Cemetery.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record 27 Jan 1958 pg 5

William married Mary Jane Folland 9 Oct 1895, Seaforth, Huron Co., Ontario, Canada. Mary was born 21 Mar 1870, , Devonshire, England; died 17 Oct 1956, Seaforth, Huron Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Jane Kress
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-350820
• Immigration: 1876, , Canada
• Residence: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Anglican

Notes:

Mrs. W. F. KressMrs. William F. Kress, 80, died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. G. Hugo Bingham, 700 Rockway Driveon Wednesday. Born in Devonshire, England, March 21, 1870, she was formerly, Mary Jane Folland. On Oct. 9, 1895, she married Mr. Kress, at Seaforth, Ont. She wars a member of Christ Anglican Church. Besides her husband, she is survived by one son, Wilbur Folland Kress, St. Thomas, one daughter, Mrs. G. Hugo (Mabel) Bingham, Kitchener and one grandchild. Mrs. Kress was the Iast surviving member of her family. The body is at the Schreiter Sandrock Funeral Home, from where services will be conducted,by Rev. A. W. Dillistone, at 2 p.m., Saturday. Burial will be in Preston Cemetery. Mrs. Kress, lived most of her life in Preston, where her husband, operated the Kress House. She was the last surviving member of herfamily.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record 18 Oct 1956 pg 7

Other Events:

• Business: Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Kress House
• Business: Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; North American Hotel
• Interesting: hotel, story, business
• Name: Chistopher Kress
• Name: Christopher Cress
• Name: Christopher Kress
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-350817
• Residence: 1824, Epfenbach, Epfenbach, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Immigration: 1850, , Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; teamster
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1861, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Inn Keeper
• Residence: 1861, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Business: 1864, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Black Bear Hotel
• Residence: 1864, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1871, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotelkeeper
• Occupation: 1881, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper
• Occupation: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper
• Occupation: 1901, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Hotel Keeper

Notes:

Born in 1824 in Baden, Germany, Christopher Kress came to Canada with his parents in 1837, where they settled in Wilmot Township. There, he worked on a farm for Noah Shantz and Joel Good and later went to work for Clare and Beck in Preston.

In 1857, he purchased and operated the Black Bear Hotel. By 1871, he purchased the North American Hotel from the Cornell estate and operated the establishment until 1900 when the hotel was demolished due to its' limited capacity. A larger, 4-storey, red brick hotel, named the Kress House, was erected as a replacement.

On 7 April 1908 Kress died, leaving his wife and four children. He was buried at the Preston cemetery. Kress was also one of the founders of the Speed Park Race Track in Preston.


Kitchener Public Library Digital Photograph Collection

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Christopher Kress was born in Baden, Germany in 1824 and came to Canada with his parents in 1837. The family first settled on a farm in the north part of Wilmot township. Mr. Kress came to Preston in 1845 when he took a job as a teamster with the Clare & Beck foundry. He remained with that company for a number of years before leaving to operate a stage coach line carrying the mail between Preston and Waterloo. In 1857 he purchased the Black Bear Hotel which he managed for a number of years. In 1871 he purchased the North American Hotel from the estate of Samuel Cornell. This hotel was located directly across King street from the Black Bear Hotel and had the advantage of having one of the town's mineral springs located on the property. Exploiting the supposed curative powers of the mineral springs. Mr. Kress built the North American Hotel into a major health spa attracting clientele from across Canada and the United States. To accommodate his ever growing business, Mr. Kress enlarged his hotel in 1900 so that it became one of the finest hotels in the country. At the same time he renamed it the Kress Hotel. Mr. Kress died on April 6, 1908 and is buried in Preston Cemetery.


Cambridge Mosaic, Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge

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One who will soon be classed among the old settlers of Preston is Christopher Kress, who by his energy and pluck has accumulated considerable property and who has greatly aided in giving Preston a good name as a desirable place of resort for the cure of rheumatism and kindred diseases, through its mineral baths.

The mineral springs were struck by one Peter Erb while boring for salt in 1838, which he never obtained. He placed no value in the sulphur water he had so struck. After abandoning boring, the water of the spring was employed for driving an overshot wheel of a wagon making shop, occupied by one Daniel Hagey, until Mr. Samuel Cornell obtained from Mr. Joseph Erb sufficient land near the spring to erect an hotel. Mr. Cornell with great energy built suitable premises and a bath house with boiler to enable him to furnish hot and cold baths.. His undertaking proved successful but death terminated his career. The property was sold and Christopher Kress became its owner. He greatly enlarged, improved and ornamented it and the invalids who have sought and obtained relief at the Preston mineral baths count by the hundreds.

Fifth Annual Report Of The Waterloo Historical Society, 1917 pg 32

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North American Hotel, the Preston Summer Resort, C. Kress, Proprietor, Main Street. There is nothing which can contribute more to the social if not to the intrinsic importance of a place, than an excellently equipped hotel and summer resort. It lends to the locality a social prestige which could not otherwise be obtained. The village of Preston boasts such a resort, namely, the now popular and widely known North American Hotel, whose mineral baths have afforded relief to so many who had been suffering from gout, nervous debility, disease of the stomach, etc. This hotel or summer resort is splendidly situated on rising ground at the head of the village, and commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country.

The hotel contains fifty bed rooms, four parlors, and a smoking and sitting room. In the house are all modern conveniences, and there is everything to be found in a first-class hotel. Mr. Kress, the proprietor, also owns a few neat collages in the vicinity, which he lets to private parties during the summer months . They are pleasantly situated, affording all the charms of rustic retreats. Behind the hotel is the mineral fountain, while there are also shady walks and a skating rink. In the front, on a square, a band stand is erected, where during the summer evenings a band discourses sweet and appropriate airs. In connection with the hotel is a large livery and boarding stable, and Mr. Kress is the owner of the stage which run s daily from the house to Berlin, in connection with lines to St. Jacobs, Elmira, Hawkesville, etc. M r. Kress is eminently qualified for the position as proprietor of a summer resort, and is deservedly popular with all.

Industries of Canada Historical and Commercial Sketches, London, Woodstock, Ingersoll, Guelph, Berlin, Waterloo, St. Thomas, Windsor and Environs, Toronto, M. G. Bixby & Co., Publishers 1887

Johann married Maria Sophia Barbara "Barbara" Reichert 25 Dec 1864, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Maria (daughter of George Michael "Michael" Reichert and Sophia Doll) was born 6 Apr 1831, Eschelbronn, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany; was christened 10 Apr 1831, Eschelbronn, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany; died 1 Nov 1914, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Barbara Reichert
• Name: Maria Sophia Barbara "Barbara" Kress
• Name: Maria Sophia Barbara "Barbara" Souder
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-350818
• Immigration: 22 Jul 1847, Baltimore, Baltimore (City), Maryland, USA
• Immigration: 1848, , Canada
• Immigration: 1850, , Canada
• Residence: 1856, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1864, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Name: Michael Kress
• Name: Michael Kresz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-96145
• Residence: 1824, Epfenbach, Epfenbach, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Residence: 1831, Epfenbach, Epfenbach, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Occupation: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Retired
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

George — Katharina Dengel. Katharina was born Between 1793 and 1794, , Baden, Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Katharina Kress
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-96146
• Residence: 1824, Epfenbach, Epfenbach, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Residence: 1831, Epfenbach, Epfenbach, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Name: Michael Reichert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-153922
• Immigration: 22 Jul 1847, Baltimore, Baltimore (City), Maryland, USA
• Occupation: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Labourer
• Residence: 1861, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

George — Sophia Doll. Sophia was born 1793, , Germany; died , , Germany. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Sophia Reichert
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-224165