Joseph Kleiser was born December 25, 1763 at the Swiss end of the Black Forest in Germany. His brother inherited the landed estate by the laws of that country, Joseph left his native land at the age of 16 and went to London, England around 1780. He served an apprecnticeship under his uncle, Johann Kleiser, who was a prominent clock maker. Joseph left London around 1785 and went to America, where he first settled in Virginia. In 1788 he married Elizabeth Lyter, who was born August 6, 1765, a daughter of Henry and catherine Lyter of Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia)
They had ten children, eight are noted: 1) Samuel Brown Kleiser, 2) Jonas Markey Kleiser, 3) John Kleiser, 4) Martin Kleiser, 5) Henry Kleiser, 6) Mary Kleiser, 7) George Kleiser, 8) Nancy Kleiser.
In 1793 Joseph and Elizabeth Kleiser / Cliser and their family moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky and settled in a town called Paris. Joseph lived here until his death in 1847 at the age of 83. The spelling of Cliser was used randomly by Joseph and his own children and grand children in later years. In later years, some of Joseph and Elizabeth's children moved to Waveland (Montgomery County) Indiana. One known to have lived there was George Kleiser, who was born in Virginia. George Kleiser married Elizabeth McLeod of Bourbon County, KY.
One of their children James Abrahm Kleiser, born July 7, 1818, grew to manhood in Indiana. James' father George kleiser died in Indiana and James took over the household. The 1840 census of Indiana list's James and his mother Elizabeth both living in Montgomery County, last name spelled CLISER.
When James reached manhood, he moved out west to California where he settled in Humboldt County in 1853. There he built and operated a flour mill until 1858. He then moved to the Russian River Valley in 1859 and purchased 750 acres of lands, which is now the town of Cloverdale in Sonoma County, California of which James Kleiser is listed as the founder of that town. In 1867 he built bridges and the Central railraod on the Truckee River. In 1868 he erected six miles of snow sheds at the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. James Kleiser is a noted California pioneer. Link to James Kleiser's Autobiography:
http://notablekleisers.blogspot.com/2007/01/autobiography-of-james-abram-kleiser.html
Link to James Kleiser a California Pioneer:
http://notablekleisers.blogspot.com/2007/07/james-abram-kleiser.html
During that same year, 1868, James married Elizabeth Unferfate of San Francisco on March 18, 1868. James superintended the building of the railroad from Healdsburg to Cloverdale in 1871. James and Elizabeth had their first son, George William Kleiser on June 25, 1874. Their second and third sons were named James Henry Kleiser, born 1-28-1876 and Joseph Albert Kleiser, born 8-1-1881.
George William Kleiser (pictured below), the eldest, became a doctor and married Maude O'Neill. They then moved to Portland, Orgeon. While in Portland he and fellow named Walter F. Foster formed an advertising billboard company in 1901. Their turn of the century business partnersh
ip coincided with the beginning automotive age and expansion of western America. Their innovations and improvements in the quality of billboard advertising impressed bankers, who helped finance the expansion of "FOSTER and KLEISER" throughout the west coast. From that point on the new company expanded from Portland to Los Angeles in 1915, and San Diego to Arizona in 1924. After George Kleiser's death in 1952, the company went through various ownerships. FOSTER and KLEISER then expanded futher into markets in Chicago, New York, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Maryland and Wisconsin.Any comments or additional info please contact me
GWCLISER@GMAIL.COM