Prominent Novato Citizen Wanted for Embezzlement
by Laurie Thompson
We recently received an interesting “Wanted” poster issued by Marin County Sheriff W. P. Taylor in early 1903.
In it, Sheriff Taylor offers a reward of $100. for one Chas. Kuser, age 35, native of Switzerland, “wanted for embezzlement.”
I was curious to know the back story and whether Charles Kuser was ever apprehended.
Searching through our digital newspaper archive, I discovered that Charles Kuser, often referred to as “Prof. Chas. Kuser,” was a respected city leader in Novato. He was active in the “Novato Grove, Ancient Order of Druids” which raised funds for local causes and for which he served as treasurer. He was also a musician who played the zither at social and civic functions. His brother, Dr. John H. Kuser, was a highly-respected medical doctor, a founder of the Cottage Hospital in San Rafael and later appointed County Physician and Health Officer (for more about Dr. John H. Kuser see his biographical sketch in Novato Township.)
An October 23, 1902 Marin Journal article headlined Missing Man Played $20 Daily in the Slot, tells the Charles Kuser story:
Today has brought no trace of Chas. Kuser, the missing treasurer of the Novato Grove, Ancient Order of Druids, and the belief that he has absconded with the funds of the Order, amounting to more than $600, is generally accepted in Novato. Dr. J. H. Kuser, brother of the missing man, has asked the police of San Francisco to search for him. A. D. Scott of Novato…said: “There is no doubt Kuser has absconded, and we shall have a warrant out for him. It is true that several days before he left here he was gambling with the slot machine and spending as much as $20 a day. His salary was only $50 a month. I do not believe he has met with foul play, but think he has spent the money and is afraid to come back. Should he return in the next few days, he still has friends who would make up the shortage…..”
Unfortunately, Kuser did not return and months later, in early February of 1903, Sheriff Taylor decided to offer a reward and publicize the case broadly. The February 3, 1903 San Francisco Call published a picture of suspected embezzler Chas. Kuser in an article titled Sheriff Wants a Treasurer of the Druids. Charles Kuser of the Town of Novato Missing and Coin, Too. The article goes on to explain:
….In September it was hinted that his accounts were short and on the 27th of the same month he disappeared. Since that time no trace has been obtained of his whereabouts. Self-destruction was first thought to have caused his supposed demise, but later facts developed to upset this theory. Charges were proffered against Kuser for having embezzled $620. and now Sheriff Taylor offers a large reward for his apprehension. Kuser belongs to a well known and prominent family in this county. He, however, served a term at Folsom Prison for burglary several years ago….”
I could find no further trace of Charles Kuser in the news during the decade of the 1900s. It seems, he may have gotten away with his crime. However, his brother, Dr. John H. Kuser, left an important and positive legacy in Marin:
Perhaps Dr. Kuser’s most heroic service was performed during the flu epidemic of 1918. He got permission to use the closed Hotel Rafael, personally arranged for all utilities to be turned on, and within a matter of hours, the “hospital” was ready for patients. The doctor was in constant attendance for six weeks. It’s no wonder he was elected President of the Marin Medical Society in 1920, 1921 and 1933. (Novato Township, p.321).
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
