USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 17
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He was born on the 13th of September, 1823, at Bridgeton, New Jersey, and was a son of Hiram and Phoebe (Brooks) Paul. His mother was a daughter of Major Almarin Brooks, an officer of the colonial army in the Revolutionary war. The father's family was established in Glouces- ter county, New Jersey, at an early period in the colonization of the new world. In the family of Hiram and Phoebe (Brooks) Paul were but two children, the sister of our subject being Sarah C. Paul.
In the public schools of his native town Almarin B. Paul acquired his early education, and when a lad of ten years accompanied his mother and sister to St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his studies in the St. Louis University, spending four years as a student in that institution. On putting aside his text-books he engaged in clerking in a dry goods store untit 1845, when he went to Lake Superior in connection with a copper min- ing company for the purpose of prospecting and making mineral explora- tions. There he remained until 1848. In the spring of that year he returned to St. Louis, and it was not long after this ere he heard the report concern- ing the discovery of gold in California. He immediately made preparation to start for the Mecca of the west. Previous to this time, while in the Lake Superior region, he had heard stories of the gold fields on the Pacific coast and had organized a party of four to come to California and make explora- tions for gold, but the Mexican war broke out at that time and the plan was abandoned.
Mr. Paul arrived in California on the 3d of November, 1849, having
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come by way of the Panama route. Previous to starting he purchased a stock of goods, chiefly building and fancy hardware, and shipped the same around the Horn. He located in Sacramento, where he began business un- der the firm style of Paul, White & Company, carrying on that enterprise until November, 1850, when he disposed of his interest and turned his atten- tion to mining. Going to Nevada City, he there built one of the first mills in Nevada county and was associated with George Hearst in the conduct of that enterprise for many years, operating in the mines of Nevada county, which is one of the richest quartz-mining districts of California. Although the rock run from $30 to $200 a ton, when the average value fell to $25 a ton it did not pay to work it owing to the inability to save all the gold. So strongly was Mr. Paul impressed with the necessity of improvements in the process for saving the precious metal that in July, 1851, he went to New York city to call attention to the possibilities of quartz mining in California. He found, however, that capitalists were too timid to back an enterprise that they did not then understand, and without succeeding in his attempt to gain the co-operation of wealthy men of the east he returned to California in 1852 and again embarked in business in Sacramento. The routine of a mercantile career, however, did not satisfy him, and in the spring of 1853 we find him bending his energies to the upbuilding of San Francisco.
Thoroughly understanding the conditions of the west and recognizing in foresighted manner its possibilities, he put forth his efforts along many lines for the welfare and progress of San Francisco. He operated quite ex- tensively in real estate until 1856, when he became an active factor in con- nection with the famous vigilance committee organized that year. The law- less element seemed to be the dominant one in California and life and prop- erty were becoming unsafe. Those who had regard for justice and right, recognizing that a crisis was at hand, banded themselves together to sup- port the interests of those who held themselves amenable to law and the vigilance committee was the result. Mr. Paul in connection with Washington Bartlett, afterward governor of California, and his brothers, em- barked in the publication of a paper called the True Californian, an able and fearless advocate of the vigilantes. He continued in his journalistic enter- prise until 1857, when he sold his interest in the publication and again be- came connected with mining interests, erecting the Oriental Quartz Mill in Nevada county. This proved a very profitable undertaking owing to the perfected methods of saving gold. He conducted this until 1860, when the famous Comstock mines in Nevada were attracting attention. Mr. Paul was among the first to perceive the value of the discovery, and it was he that formed the first company to systematically work the mines. He erected the first mill there-a twenty-four stamp mill-to work the silver ores, which he reduced, at a uniform price to every one, for thirty dollars per ton. In 1865, having realized a fortune from his efforts in this direction, Mr. Paul sold his interests in mill and mines and embarked in the banking business at Gold Hill. He was also the organizer of the Imperial Consolidating Min- ing Company.
In the year 1867 Mr. Paul sold his banking business in Nevada to the
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Bank of California and commenced operations in Inyo county, California, in order to engage in the development of mines there. In 1868 he secured patents on new processes for amalgamating the precious metals. In 1860 he had invented what was then known as the Washoe pan process for work- ing silver ores, whereby the time of work was reduced from thirty days to four hours. This method is at the present time in use throughout the world in connection with silver mining. Mr. Paul operated the first mill of the kind in Silver City, Nevada, and in his invention he has given to civilization a most valuable device and one that has resulted in adding millions to the wealth of the country. He has perhaps done more than any other man for mining in California, having made a close study of the conditions, and labor- ing continually to improve these until as the result of his efforts much time and money have been saved in making the metals mined a marketable com- modity.
Mr. Paul was united in marriage to Miss Kate V. Mullin, a native of Ohio. They have four children, three of whom are living: Almarin B., who is engaged in the commission business in San Francisco; Jane A .; and Florence K.
Mr. Paul is a stanch advocate of Republican principles, having supported the party since its organization. He was in deep sympathy with the Union cause at the time of the Civil war and became president of the committee having in charge the sanitary fund of the state of Nevada, acting by appoint- ment from Dr. W. H. Bellows, president of the United States commission from 1860 until 1866. The fund was raised for the purpose of paying nurses for the care of soldiers during the Civil war, and Mr. Paul was a liberal contributor to the work. He belongs to the Order of the Cincinnati, to the Sons of the American Revolution and to the Society of California Pioneers. Mr. Paul for fifty years was a constant writer on mining and other matters for the mining and other journals. At one time he issued for free circulation ten thousand pamphlets on the fine gold question, which went all over the mining world, and were accepted as authority. His ac- count of the famous Vigilance Committee of 1856 received high commenda- tions from all members of the committee, as also the press of the state.
The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting and romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unexplored west went brave men whose courage was often called forth. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commercial possibilities and awaited the atten- tion of man to yield up its treasures. But its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to penetrate, and the establishment of homes in this beautiful region therefore meant sacrifices, hardships and oftentimes death, but there were men brave enough to undertake the task of reclaiming the district for purposes of civilization. No story of fiction contains more exciting chapters than could be found in the life record of Mr. Paul if his history were given in detail, for it would present a picture of pioneer con- ditions in California as well as of its period of prosperity and progress. In his business career he early had the sagacity and prescience to discern the
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eminence which the future had in store for this great and growing country, and acting in accordance with the dictates of his faith and judgment he has garnered in the fulness of time the generous harvest which is the just recom- pense of indomitable courage and marvelous enterprise.
THE AETNA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
The Aetna Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, has become one of the strongest corporations of its character in America. The charter was first granted to the company covering the business of fire insur- ance. life insurance, annuities, etc., in 1820. The company, however, did not make use of the life and annuity privileges until 1850, when under the name of the Aetna Life & Annuity Fund, a branch covering life and annuity business was started. In 1853 a special charter was granted forming a separate corporation of the life insurance business with E. A. Bulkeley as the first President. In 1872 upon the death of E. A. Bulkeley, J. O. Enders succeeded to the Presidency and continued to act in that capacity until 1879, at which time Morgan G. Bulkeley, ex-Governor of Connecticut, was made President. He was the son of the first President of the company. For several years the company sold only what is known as non-participating insurance, but later associated all the many and usual forms of dividend- paying policies. In 1891 its Accident Department was instituted and to-day it does the largest Accident insurance business in America. In 1903 the company formed its department for writing Employers' Liability insurance and on account of its magnificent record the organization immediately sprang to the front in this business, placing on the first books within ninety days of the opening of the department the largest single policy in force in the United States, calling for an annual premium of over one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. As to the general growth of the company's business it has steadily progressed until at the present time its assets exceed sixty-eight million dollars, of which eight million is surplus belonging to policy-holders and all this is after having dispersed to policy-holders since the organization of the company upwards of one hundred and thirty-nine million dollars.
In 1868 an agency was established for California at San Francisco and E. H. Lestock Gregory succeeded H. B. Houghton in control of the business here in 1901 as General Agent for California and Nevada. At that time the General Agency ranked No. 27 when estimated by the amount of policies written annually, an average of about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. To-day, however, it ranks third, with a business aggregating two million dollars per year.
E. H. LESTOCK GREGORY.
E. H. Lestock Gregory, now General Agent for the Aetna Life Insur- ance Company for California and Nevada, was born on the 29th of October, 1870, at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, his parents being Silas E. and Emma Gregory. The father was a prominent commission merchant and in the
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family were a number of members prominent in government service. Hon. John U. Gregory, an uncle of our subject, was department minister of Marine and Fisheries, while a first cousin, Sir Adam Wilson, was Chief Jus- tice of Canada and the maternal grandfather, Judge O'Reilly, was Master of Chancery.
Mr. Gregory, having mastered the elementary branches of learning, became a student in the Upper Canada College and also continued his studies in Trinity University, both institutions being located in Toronto, Canada. He left school at the age of nineteen years, and in 1891 was appointed pri- vate secretary to Lieutenant Governor Schultz, of Manitoba, but after filling that position for some time he resigned and went to Vancouver, British Columbia, where for a few months he was in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. He then accepted a position as head bookkeeper with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York at Seattle, and in 1893 resigned to take up the active work in the field as insurance solicitor for the same company. In the year following he organized a staff of sub- agents, soliciting larger lines of life insurance, covering the entire territory of North America, including Canada, United States and Mexico. This he continued until October, 1899, when he resigned to accept the appointment from the Equitable Life Assurance Society as Inspector of Agencies for California, Nevada, and the Hawaiian Islands, which position he filled until September, 1900, when he resigned in order to accept the position of Assist- ant Manager of the Aetna Life Insurance Company for California and Nevada. He continued thus to serve until June, 1901, when, upon the death of the former manager, H. B. Houghton, he was appointed General Agent for the two states mentioned. He is to-day one of the foremost representa- tives of insurance in the great West, having a close and intimate knowledge of the business in every principle and detail, so that he is enabled to care- fully direct the labors of his men and to supervise the multitudinous duties which are connected with a business of this character. He is splendidly equipped by business training, has natural talent and well developed powers for the important task which devolves upon him and has made for himself a most creditable record in insurance circles.
On the 29th of February, 1892, Mr. Gregory was united in marriage to Miss Grace Tyner, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Louis Tyner, who was a large lumberman and was also widely known in political and public life as well as in business circles. To Mr. and Mrs. Gregory has been born a daughter, Vivian Emma Grace, now ten years of age. On coming to the United States in 1892 Mr. Gregory took out naturalization papers and is most loyal to the interests of his adopted city, his co-operation being ever along lines of advancement and improvement. In studying the history of successful men one is impressed with the fact that there are no rules for building characters, that there is no rule for achieving success. The man who can rise from the ranks to a position of eminence is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that surround his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differ but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway to
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reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out ahead of him it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race. To-day among the most prominent of the younger business men on the Pacific coast stands Mr. Gregory, and his history cannot fail to be of widespread interest, for he ranks high in insurance circles and has gained the respect and confidence of all his business associates.
FRANK CHESTER JORDAN. .
Success comes not to the man who idly waits but to the faithful toiler whose work is characterized by intelligence and force and who has the fore- sight and keenness of mental vision to know where and when and how to exert his energies. Thus it happens that but a small portion of those who enter the world's broad field of battle come off victors in the struggle for wealth and position. Some lack perseverance, others business sagacity and still others are dilatory or negligent, but Mr. Jordan possesses the undaunted spirit and business enterprise which have developed and are developing the marvelous resources of the western states and territories. There have been in his life history obstacles and difficulties which would have utterly dis- couraged many a man of less resolute spirit, but he has persevered in the face of these and is to-day occupying an enviable place in the regard of those who know aught of his career, his business connection being that of clerk of the supreme court of the state.
Frank Chester Jordan was born in Shasta county, California, on the 3d of April, 1860, and is a son of Robert K. and Maria (Chidester) Jordan. His father was a native of Maine and in the year 1859 came to California, settling in Shasta county, while later he resided near Oakland, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.
In the public schools of Oakland, Frank C. Jordan pursued his educa- tion until twelve years of age, when he began to earn his own living, being employed as a farm hand until sixteen years of age. He afterward accepted a position as a clerk with the Real Estate Union, a building association of Oakland, and was later a clerk with the Aetna Insurance Company. Subse- quently he was a law clerk and private secretary to Senator Vrooman, his brother-in-law, from 1881 until 1886, and in the latter year became a deputy in the state law library, while in 1887-88 he was a bookkeeper in the Oakland Bank of Savings. His next step in business was an independent venture, for he embarked in a printing and stationery enterprise in 1889, continuing it until 1892. In 1894 he was elected county clerk of Alameda county, Cali- fornia, for a term of four years, receiving a majority of eighteen hundred. In 1898 he was re-elected and received a majority of six hundred in a vote of twenty-one thousand. On the 22d of August, 1902, he was nominated for the position of clerk of the supreme court of California, and on the 6th of November following was elected to that office by a majority of fifty-one thousand two hundred and seventy-four, ranking the third among the suc- cessful candidates of his party. His term will continue until the Ist of Jan-
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uary, 1907. In his home county Mr. Jordan received a majority of ninety- one hundred and fifty, a fact which attests his personal popularity.
In May, 1881, Mr. Jordan was united in marriage to Miss Emma D. Morrill, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and they now have four children, two sons and two daughters, Robert, Frank, Grace and Nettie. Mr. Jordan belongs to the Masonic fraternity and holds membership relations with the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Eagles, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Press Club of San Fran- cisco, the Union League Club of San Francisco, the Nile Club of Oakland and the Reliance Club of Oakland. His life has been a strenuous one as he has had to fight his way in the world, but is winning in the strife. He had no opportunity for securing an education, and his youth was beset with difficulties which would have utterly discouraged many a man. He met failure in business in 1892 and his health became so impaired that the doctors . gave no hope of his recovery, but instead of losing heart he with strong deter- mination rallied his powers and has eventually won for himself a position of prominence in the political world and at the same time has gained in the respect of all. He is to-day a leader in the ranks of the Republican party in California, and his life has been characterized by those traits which are so often manifest in the sons of the far west, whose labors have led to the splendid development of this section of the country.
HON. FRANCIS WILLIAM VAN REYNEGOM.
Hon. Francis William Van Reynegom, a practitioner at the bar of San Francisco and now ex-judge of the superior court, was born on the 22d of February, 1846, in Bath, Maine, a son of Charles E. and Mary J. Van Reynegom, the former a native of Philadelphia and the latter of Maine. The paternal grandfather was a merchant of Philadelphia, where the father of Judge Van Reynegom became a sea captain, but continued to make his home in his native city. In his family were three daughters, but only one is now living.
Judge Van Reynegom, an only son, pursued his early education in the public schools of Boston, Massachusetts, where he pursued his studies until fourteen years of age. In the meantime he had been left an orphan, and about 1860, in company with his youngest sister, now deceased, he came to California, arriving in Marin county, where his uncle was engaged in farming. He was employed at farm labor by his uncle until he attained the age of nineteen years, after which he spent six months as an employe in a country blacksmith's shop. The succeeding year was passed in the printing office of the Marin County Journal, and in 1866 he came to San Francisco, where he entered into partnership with William M. Cubery in a printing venture under the firm style of Cubery & Company. This relation was maintained until the fall of 1872, when Mr. Van Reynegom sold out. In the meantime he had taken up the study of law and so assiduously con- ducted his preparation for the bar that in April, 1873, he was admitted to practice at the supreme court of California.
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Judge Van Reynegom entered upon his professional duties and at the same time acted as editor of two weekly papers, the Pacific Odd Fellow and the Pacific Churchman, for two years following his admission to the bar. A growing clientage, however, made such demands upon his time and attention that he was forced to put aside his journalistic labors and devote himself entirely to his duties as a law practitioner. In the year 1888 he was appointed judge of the superior court of San Francisco by Governor Water- man and served until 1890, when he resumed his practice, in which he has continued to the present time. His decisions indicated strong mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of law and an unbiased judgment. The judge on the bench fails more frequently, perhaps, from a deficiency in that broad-mindedness which not only comprehends the details of a situation quickly and that insures a complete self-control under even the most exas- perating conditions than from any other cause; and the judge who makes a success in the discharge of his multitudinous delicate duties is a man of well rounded character, finely balanced mind and of splendid intellectual. attainments. That Judge Van Reynegom was regarded as such a jurist is a uniformly accepted fact.
Judge Van Reynegom was married to Miss Cornelia Carey, a native of Ohio and a daughter of William and Lone Stewart Carey, the latter a sister of United States Senator Stewart of Nevada. Her father was killed in the service in the Union army during the Civil war. To the Judge and his wife have been born two daughters, Alice Carey, who is a graduate of Notre Dame College of San Francisco and has taken up literary work as a life occupation; and Frances Stewart, who is an actress and violinist. The parents are active in church work, and the Judge is serving as senior warden of St. John's Episcopal church. He has gained for himself an enviable position as a representative of the bar of central California and in his private life is distinguished by all that marks the true gentleman.
ARTHUR P. HOLLAND.
Arthur P. Holland, of the Stocker & Holland Abstract Company, Oak- land, California, has been identified with this city for more than two decades. Mr. Holland is a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was born February 26, 1865, son of Thomas A. and Alice M. (Howe) Holland, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Wisconsin. Thomas A. Holland was a literary man, and for many years was a frequent contributor to the leading papers of New York and Chicago. He died in 1868.
Arthur P. Holland received his early education in a private school in Chicago, to which city the family moved when he was quite small. In 1882 he accompanied his family to California and their home was established in Oakland, where, two years later, he graduated from the high school. The next two years he spent in Hastings College, where he pursued a law course, and in 1886 he entered the Northwestern University, from which institution he received the degree of LL. D. in 1889. Returning to Oakland, he was in 1890 admitted to the bar and at once began the practice of his pro- fession, which he continued one year. In 1891 he became associated with
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A. H. Stoker in an abstracting business, under the firm name of Stoker & Holland, which association has continued up to the present time, the com- pany now being incorporated, Mr. Holland being secretary and general manager.
Mr. Holland married, in 1894, Miss Lettie A. Wade, a native of San Francisco and a daughter of Dr. Thomas Wade and wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Von Kountz. Dr. Wade was one of the pioneer physi- cians of San Francisco, where he located in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Holland have one daughter, Loie.
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