A. W. Piper
| Andrew William Piper | |
|---|---|
Piper in 1883, by Asahel Curtis
|
|
| Born |
A. W. Pfeifer ca. March 1828 Kissingen, Kingdom of Bavaria |
| Died | November 11, 1904 (aged 76) Seattle, Washington, US |
| Resting place |
Lake View Cemetery, Lot 184 47°38′00″N 122°19′02″W / 47.633242°N 122.317098°W |
| Residence | Government & Fort St., Victoria, B.C. (1870s) 11th SW & Pine St., Seattle (c. 1880–1889) Pipers Creek farm, Seattle (c. 1889–1904) |
| Citizenship | US |
| Occupation | Baker, confectioner, artist, politician |
| Organization | Puget Sound Candy Manufactory, aka Piper's Bakery |
| Known for | Piper Orchard, Pipers Creek, Piper's Canyon, Carkeek Park, socialist member of Seattle City Council |
| Notable work | "Piper's Cream Cakes" |
| Political party | Socialist |
| Spouse(s) | Wilhelmina "Minna" Piper (1835–1930) |
| Children | 11 children, incl. Oscar Albert Piper (1876–1968), Walter Piper |
A. W. Piper (1828 – November 11, 1904) was a Seattle, Washington pioneer whose name was given to Piper Orchard, Pipers Creek and Piper's Canyon in Carkeek Park, and who was elected in 1877–1878 a socialist Seattle City Council member. He owned a bakery known for its artistic confections that served Seattle and the Puget Sound region.
Piper was born in Kissingen, Bavaria around March 1826. He was educated as an artist, and emigrated to America in 1847 at age 19. In New Orleans he met Wilhelmina ("Minna") Hausman (June 1834 – 1930), who was from the Hanover area of Germany, and had come to America in 1853. The 1900 Census showed they had been married for 48 years, since around 1852, or else they were married a little later, in San Francisco in 1853, crossing the Isthmus of Panama to get to California. They lived in San Francisco for 20 years, and their first five children were born there. Piper attended the San Francisco Mechanics' Institute, receiving a certificate for "best specimens of ornamental sugar work" dated September 1857.
By 1871 they were living in Victoria, British Columbia, where Piper was a confectioner on Government and Fort Streets. Three of the Piper's children were born in Victoria, and it was here that historian Thomas W. Prosch first met Piper. Prosch said Piper's store was popular and attracted visitors from around the region. An 1873 newspaper announcement said an Andrew William Piper, baker and confectioner of Government Street, declared bankruptcy in Victoria, B.C. on December 4, 1872.
The Pipers came to Seattle in 1873. He owned a Bavarian style konditorei, the Puget Sound Candy Manufactory, in Seattle's Pioneer Square on Front St. between Cherry and Mill Streets. A typical konditorei is much more than a bakery, making candies and many other types of confections. He was known for his wedding cakes and other creative, artistic confections, including "Piper's Cream Cakes" (or "Dream Cakes") that were especially popular in the 1870s, made from a recipe Piper never revealed. By the 1880s Piper employed a number of assistants. Prosch said that Seattle's Lake Union often froze over in winter, and that in those days, before Seattle's ice factory was built in 1882, Piper would harvest large blocks of ice from the lake, which he saved until summer for making ice cream.
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