Fred Rossner

Fred Rossner was a prominent confectioner and businessman in late nineteenth-century Little Rock.

Rossner was born in Germany on May 12, 1849, son of Saxe-Altenberg contractor and builder Johann Gottfriedt. Rossner emigrated to New York City, arriving at the port on May 31, 1867. He traveled inland to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he worked as a stone- and brickmason in the construction of the county courthouse there. He soon left Wisconsin and journeyed south to New Orleans and later St. Louis. In September 1870 he found employment with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad in building a bridge across Piney Creek. He became very ill while working on the bridge and spent six months in a bed in Little Rock.

Upon his recovery, Rossner became engaged in the work of G. Thom, a cigar manufacturer and confectioner. In March 1873 he worked for A. Kasselberg. On September 1, 1878, he purchased the assets of the Boston Confectionery at 107 East Markham Street in Little Rock. In 1884 he bought out local confectioner Currell & Grisbel, but continued to operate both stores.

In March 1887 Rossner completed construction on the Rossner Building at the intersection of Third and Main streets in downtown Little Rock. Rossner established his candy and confection shop inside the building and added to the business private event catering, ice cream and oyster parlors, baked goods, and soda fountain bubbles.

Rossner was a member of the local Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Arkansas Turn Bezirk. He was also a member of the Little Rock Athletic Club. Rossner served as the president of Little Rock's German-American Building Association in the late nineteenth century, and secretary of the Defiance Hook & Ladder Company. Rossner and his second wife Lou Heitman of Columbus, Ohio, attended church at First Presbyterian Church.

References

• Goodspeed's History of Pulaski County, Arkansas (1889).