Ernest Schweninger

Ernest Seraphin Schweninger (September 9, 1892 – November 11, 1957) was an American actor, realtor, and grocer in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He became owner of Carmel's first Bakery and the Schweninger's Grocery Store. Schweninger was a founding member of the Carmel American Legion Post No. 512 and the Abalone League. He appeared in many of the early plays at the Forest Theater and Theatre of the Golden Bough. He became a partner and sales manager for the Carmel Land Company that helped develop Hatton Fields, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Schweninger was an eighth grade graduate in the Monterey School on June 30, 1906. He was the first boy from Carmel to attend the Monterey High School. During his high school commencement exercises, he appeared in the senior play, She Stoops to Conquer.

Schweninger went to the University of California, Berkeley. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Berkeley and graduated as a senior in the class of 1914.

Career Louis Slevin's merchandise store, Schweninger's Carmel Bakery, and the Carmel Grocery Store.

In 1915, Schweninger's parents acquired two lots adjacent to the Carmel Bakery, on Ocean Avenue, and opened the Carmel Grocery store. The Carmel Bakery was successful, but in September 1917, the Schweningers announced they would close the business to spend more time with the grocery business. The bakery sat vacant throughout 1918-1919.

On May 1, 1918, during World War I, Schweninger was recruited at the Fort McDowell on Angle Island in San Francisco and was stationed with the United States Navy at Mare Island. Because Ernest was away serving in the war, his brother George was appointed administrator of the estate of his parents by the Superior Court. The estate was valued at $20,000 . After the war, in January 1919, Schweninger was relieved from active duty and returned home and took over running the grocery store.

In 1920, he reopened the Carmel Bakery leasing the building to Carl Husemann. The building was leased to several other people who ran the bakery.

In 1923, the Schweninger brothers sold the grocery store business to Benjamin F. Minges of Monterey.

Schweninger was a founder and charter member of the Carmel American Legion Post No. 512 in 1934. It was a veterans' organization and historic meeting hall located at the corner of Dolores Street and 8th Avenue. In 1917, he acted in two summer plays, Androcles and the Lion, where he played the Captain, and A Thousand Years Ago by Percy MacKaye, where he played Calaf, Prince of Astrakhan.

Carmel Land Company

In 1925, Schweninger became the sales manager for the Carmel Land Company and helped develop Hatton Fields, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Schweninger was secretary of the company.

Death and legacy

Schweninger died of a heart attack at his home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, on November 11, 1957. Funeral services were held in the Little Chapel-by-the-Sea and interment was at the El Carmelo Cemetery, in Pacific Grove, California. Pamela Pitkin, Playwright (1915) Immortal Fame (1916) The Private Secretary (1919) The Rented Ranch (1923) Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)