USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 31
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Colonel Bauer was born in San Francisco, May 4, 1875, a son of J. C. and Caroline (Huber) Bauer. His father was born in Germany, whence he settled in Philadelphia and New York, and in 1850 came to California, where he was engaged in the brewing business from that early pioneer pe- riod and then in the malting and brewery supply business in San Francisco (J. C. Bauer & Co.), until his death. He was of a learned family, and was a man who commanded the respect and esteem of all his friends and business associates. His death occurred in 1898.
George W. Bauer was reared and educated in his native city, and graduated from the State University with honors. He is at present the vice president of the great Bauer-Schweitzer Hop and Malt Company at 632 Sacramento street, and in this as in all other of his undertakings he infuses his fresh and vigorous energy and is a prominent factor in its growth and continued success. He is a young man of means, and his loy- alty to his state has prompted him to devote much of his energies to the upbuilding of its militia service to the highest possible point of efficiency, having first taken hold of this work while still a student in the University of California, where he was connected with the military branch and grad- uated as colonel in 1897, and did much to rouse enthusiasm for its work. His election to his present post is a most fitting tribute to his hard work and skill as an organizer devoted to the strengthening and elevating of the arm of the service which is a pride to every true Californian.
The rank of captain of the Naval Militia is equal to that of colonel of the military branch. The naval militia of California, which consists of seven divisions, stands at the head of the naval militia of the various states, and that this high standard may be maintained Captain Bauer has established a school of navigation for the officers. Lieutenant McMillan, of the United States navy, is the instructor, and the men will receive thor- ough training in navigation and seamanship.
Colonel Bauer is a prominent fraternity and club man, and belongs to the following: Excelsior Lodge No. 166, F. & A. M., California Chapter No. 5, R. A. M., California Council No. 3. R. & S. M., Golden Gate Com- mandery No. 16, K. T., Yerba Buena Lodge of Perfection No. I, Scot- tish Rite; Yerba Buena Chapter of Rose Croix, No. I, Scottish Rite; God- frey De St. Omar Council No. I, Knights Kadosh, Scottish Rite; San Francisco Consistory No. 1, Scottish Rite; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; Ivy Chapter No. 27, O. E. S .: San Francisco Lodge No. 3. B. P. O. E .;
Captain Geo. Iv. Bauer
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Stanford Parlor No. 76, N. S. G. W .; and the San Francisco Club, Olympic Club, Deutscher Club; American Chemical Society: American Electro Chem- ical Society ; Society of Chemical Industry, London, England; Mim Kaph Mim, Chemistry Honor Society, University of California; Corinthian Yacht Club; Dolphin Rowing and Swimming Club; honorary member United States Veteran Navy, Phelps' Squadron No. 12; commander Alumni Com- missioned officers' Association of the University of California; colonel Regi- ment of University Cadets, 1897, retired as colonel National Guard of California, May 4, 1897; member Merchants Association.
E. M. GIBSON.
Judge E. M. Gibson is a well known citizen of Oakland, California, where for a number of years he has been prominently identified with the legal profession.
Judge Gibson is a native of Indiana. He was born in Hamilton county, June 13, 1842, son of George and Mary (Winslow) Gibson, representatives of families long resident of America, both of whom could point with pride to ancestors who fought for the independence of this country. George Gib- son's father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, his ancestors having come to this country from England in colonial days. Mary Winslow was the daughter of Eleazar and Elizabeth (Stanton) Winslow, strict Quakers. Her grandfather Winslow was a seafaring man, for many years captain of a whaling vessel, and upon retiring from the sea he settled in North Carolina. The progenitor of the Winslow family in this country came over from Eng- land in the Mayflower. His descendants took part in the various wars of this country, and were for many years prominent residents of Massachusetts.
George Gibson was a native of North Carolina, and by occupation a farmer. About 1835 he moved to Indiana, among the pioneers of that state, and in Hamilton county passed the rest of his life, and died at an advanced age. He was the father of ten children.
In one of the primitive log schoolhouses of Hamilton county, Indiana, the subject of our sketch received his early education. He worked on his father's farm in summer and attended school during the winter months, and thus passed his boyhood days up to the time the Civil war was inaugurated. Young Gibson was not slow to volunteer his services for the protection of his country. As a member of Company A. Nineteenth Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, under General Sol. Meredith, he went to the front in 1861 and shared the fortunes of his command, acting the part of a brave soldier in the various engagements in which they participated. For meritorious services he was promoted from private to sergeant over eight corporals. At the battle of Gettysburg, July 1. 1863, he was badly wounded and taken prisoner, his wound resulting in the loss of his right leg. He was mustered out of service at Madison Hospital (Indiana). June 25, 1864, and returned home. But the war was not over and notwithstanding his wound he was eager to return to the service, and was given a recruiting commission.
In the summer of 1864 Mr. Gibson went to Indianapolis and entered the
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office of Hamlin & Wickersham, under whose instructions he took up the study of law, to which he devoted his energies until the spring of the follow- ing year. The next two years he spent as a student in the Columbian (now George Washington) University, Washington, D. C., where he graduated in the spring of 1867. After his graduation he was appointed clerk in the law branch of the third auditor's office, a position which he filled until the spring of 1870. when he came to San Francisco in government service. He sub- sequently spent two years on Puget Sound. Returning to California, he opened an office for the practice of law in San Jose, but remained there only a year, removing thence to Oakland, where he has since made his home. For several years he had an office in San Francisco. He was appointed district attorney of Alameda county, to fill a vacancy, and was afterward elected and re-elected to the office, filling it four years in all. He has also served six years as judge of the superior court of Alameda county.
While living in Washington, in 1868, Judge Gibson married Miss Irene E. Brashears, a native of Washington city and a daughter of Thomas Brashears, who was of French descent. They have three daughters, Mary Irene Augusta, wife of J. V. Campbell; Clara Nina, wife of Ben. F. Woolner, who is now engaged in the practice of law with Judge Gibson; and Grace N. The judge is a member of Lyon Post, G. A. R., and politically a Republican.
FREDERIC BELASCO.
Frederic Belasco, one of the most prominent figures in theatrical manage- ment upon the Pacific coast, is the third of seven sons born to a retired mer- chant of San Francisco. It was an accident of birth that made him a native of Victoria, British Columbia, on June 30, 1863, for the family was but tem- porarily resident there, and he was brought to San Francisco when only a few weeks old.
His inclination for things theatrical was manifested even before he left the public schools of San Francisco. At that time his elder brother, David, now one of the world's most famous playwrights and dramatic producers, was just beginning his career. Frederic, without influence or favor from any on the planes above him, began in the humblest way as an occasional supernumerary, at twenty-five cents a performance, with companies appear- ing at the Grand Opera House and the old California Theater. Fortunately for the world at large, he was both plucky and persistent, and little by little he patiently forged his way ahead until he was now and then entrusted with a small part. The reading of the lines grew stronger, and his resolute spirit and determination attracted some attention, until, when he had just turned his majority, he was engaged at twenty dollars a week to play four distinct char- acters in a frontier drama. His patron was E. D. Price, who now, curiously enough, is the general manager of Mr. Belasco's extensive enterprises.
Young Belasco was an apt and shrewd observer and gained a thorough knowledge of the practical details of theatrical production, and this enabled him to procure the position of stage manager for Lewis Morrison in "Faust," which he filled for several seasons. One of his most valued possessions is a
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handsome gold watch, presented by Mr. Morrison, with an inscription testi- fying to his faithful service. When David Belasco discovered and first intro- duced the now world-famous actress, Mrs. Leslie Carter, he selected Frederic as the stage director of her earliest tours in "The Ugly Duckling " and " Miss Hilyett."
In 1896 Mr. Belasco returned to San Francisco, where he has attained to eminence as manager of theaters and theatricals. He leased the Alcazar Theater and installed a stock company, at a time when the fortunes of this house were at their lowest ebb. The first two years was a continuous up-hill fight against heavy odds. Success came at last, and it is the proud achieve- ment of the Alcazar Company that it has an unprecedented record of over four hundred consecutive weeks of successful theatrical performance, and is now recognized as the representative organization of its kind in America. It is not only the oldest, but its standard of production is also the highest.
Mr. Belasco, in association with M. E. Mayer, built the Central Theater in San Francisco, also devoted to stock productions, and has numerous other theatrical enterprises, including the touring of several prominent stars, and the new Belasco Theater, which was built expressly for him in Los Angeles and named in his honor. He has large interests in real estate and in the directorship of several business corporations, but he still devotes close per- sonal attention to the management of his theatrical affairs. His production at the Alcazar in March, 1904, of Wagner's great religious music drama, " Parsifal," was an epoch-making event in the theatrical world of the west and deserves rank, from its artistic and impressive effects, with the notable Bayreuth performances of the opera.
The Belasco family has left an enduring imprint upon the history of the stage in this country and in England. Frederic Belasco's uncle, David Belasco, known professionally as David James, was one of the most prominent of English players. He created the role of Perkins Middlewick, the retired butterman in "Our Boys," and played it during its wonderful three years' run in London. David Belasco, the younger, has an international fame, and Frederic occupies the same relative position in the far west that the former does in the east.
March 16, 1898, Mr. Frederic Belasco married Miss Sadie Lewis, of Suisun, California. On the stage she is known as Juliet Crosby. She made a phenomenal hit as Madam Butterfly in the great Japanese play, "Darling of the Gods," written by David Belasco and John Luther Long. She is still in the profession and assists her husband at the Alcazar Theater.
ISAAC S. HAINES.
Isaac S. Haines, city tax collector and treasurer of Stockton, California, was born in Rising Sun, Indiana, in 1832. His parents, Mathias and Eliza- beth (Brower) Haines, were natives respectively of New Hampshire and New York, and his father was for many years a practicing physician and leading citizen in Rising Sun, where he settled in 1816, among the early pioneers of the place. He was the father of ten children, of whom three
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are now living: Isaac S., whose name introduces this sketch; Matilda and William W., the last named a resident of Missouri.
Isaac S. in his boyhood had a private tutor and later attended the Rising Sun Seminary, of which his father was a trustee. During his school days, when he was about fifteen, he met with an unfortunate accident, the result being the loss of his left leg. Concluding his studies in the seminary at the age of sixteen, he became a clerk in a store and subsequently he worked on a farm. In 1852 he took passage for California and made the voyage via the isthmus route. After three years spent in Calaveras county, California, he returned to San Joaquin county, California. He returned to Indiana in 1857 and located on a farm with his brother. California, however, retained its attractions for him, and after the lapse of twenty-three years he came back to the Golden state, this time taking up his abode in Stockton. That was in 1880. He was engaged in the livery business at Stockton until 1893, when he was elected city tax collector and treasurer, an office he has held by re- election up to the present time.
Mr. Haines has been twice married. His first wife, nee Margaret Smith, whom he wedded in 1862, died in 1880. In 1883 he married Mrs. Emily Spurr, who is a native of North Carolina. Mr. Haines' political views are those of the Republican party.
GEORGE C. PARDEE.
George C. Pardee, governor of the state of California, has during the first year of his incumbency of that office made a reputation worthy of the best of his predecessors for high executive ability, judicious management of state affairs, thorough knowledge of and sympathy with the needs of the people, and, best of all, for his courage and independence of action when he sees the path of duty clear in a certain direction. He has been remarked as one governor who is not governed but governs, and by his self-reliance in office and his noble manhood and integrity in private life he has gained the esteem and confidence of men in every walk of life.
Governor Pardee, who is entitled to further distinction because he is the first native son of the state to attain this high office of chief executive, was born in San Francisco in the year 1857, of sturdy pioneer stock and of old and well attested lineage in the history of this country. The Par- dees are an American family of nearly two hundred years' standing. George Pardee, a young French Huguenot, landed in the colony of Connecticut in 1715, and became the source of the various generations which have since taken up residence in many parts of the Union. It is supposed that the name was originally Pardieu, and it was also spelled as Pardy and Pardie. In the Revolutionary war no less than twenty-nine members of the family fought with the Connecticut volunteers. Members of the family later took up their abodes in New York and in Ohio, and the name is now found in many western states. Governor Pardee is a Pardee of the Pardees, as his mother as well as his father bore that name and was descended from the first George Pardee.
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Governor Pardee's father was a mechanic by trade, but his higher aspirations led him to the study of medicine, and he possessed the industry and the perseverance to master a difficult specialty of that great science. He practiced with great success and won an enviable prestige among his fellow practitioners in California. He was also an enthusiastic politician and became a leader in the new Republican party, being elected to the state assembly and senate, to the office of mayor of Oakland and to several other offices. He cherished ambitions for his son, and the latter was reared in an atmosphere of politics and professional life that made his career almost a foregone conclusion.
George C. Pardee gained his early education in the old City College, which was the school most attended by the sons of well-to-do San Fran- ciscans during the early sixties. When the family moved across the bay to Oakland he attended McClure's Academy and later the College School, which was established as a preparatory school for the College of California. He afterward took a three years' course in the Oakland high school. In 1875 he entered the University of California as a member of its fifth class, which contained some young men who have since become noted in the various walks of life. Young Pardee made a good record in college, as a student and also in the athletic and social circles. He made considerable reputation in baseball, and still retains his fondness for the national sport. After leaving the university he had further ambition for study abroad, and after two years of preparatory work in Cooper College he went to Germany and entered the University of Leipzig, from which he graduated three years later, and during which time he met some of the great minds and celebrated scientists of the world, among them Virchow. While in Europe he also recorded his observations in the form of letters to the San Francisco Chron- icle, and the freshness and originality of his treatment of long established institutions and customs still retain their interest and charm although writ- ten for the ephemeral publication and attraction of the time.
Thus, well prepared for the profession of medicine, he returned to Oakland in 1885. and established his practice and his home there. He was not permitted an uninterrupted professional career, however, for in two years he was led by his natural talents and inclination for leadership into politics, and has been more or less strenuously occupied in that way ever since. Appointed to the Oakland city board of health, he at once began a vigorous campaign for the purification of the city water supply. He has always been a fighter and an ardent advocate of what he believed would be of public benefit. He was next made city councilman, and the people would then have it that he should be mayor. In the latter office he was for two years in the maelstrom of Coxey armies, A. R. U. strikes, Water Front Company suits and injunctions and other troubles, and was willing to retire at the end of his term and fight his political battles from private life.
In 1898 Dr. Pardee became a candidate for governor, and, while de- feated, he made an impression on the people which served him well four years later, when he entered the campaign and won it. As the chief candi-
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(late of the Republican party, which had the majority of the votes of the state and nominally should have carried him into office by overwhelming odds, he was confronted by internal party squabbles and dissensions which threatened his defeat and made his position most embarrassing to a man of his open and candid nature. He was unable to combat in the open those who would have accomplished his downfall, and underhanded work has always been beneath him, so that he was simply compelled to exercise extra- ordinary powers of self-restraint and await results. Despite all these odds against him, in the face of a strong Democratic vote and a labor vote that might have turned the scale, he was chosen by a small plurality. Since his inauguration he has devoted himself with the energy and zeal of his nature to state progress in every direction, for reform of political abuses, for development of the civil service movement, better methods of taxation and conservation of the natural resources of the state, and his policy has met with the approval of all who have the best interests of their commonwealth at heart.
Governor Pardee was married in Oakland, California, January 25, 1887, to Miss Helen Penniman, a native of Massachusetts. Her father, Jolın Penniman, was a native of New Hampshire, served in a Massa- chusetts constitutional convention, and with his family came to California in the early sixties. Mr. and Mrs. Pardee have four daughters: Florence M., Madeline A., Carol M., Helen P.
HERMAN C. PFISTER.
Herman C. Pfister, bookkeeper of the Eagle Brewing Company of San José, was born in this city, November 12, 1861. His parents were Adolph and Louise (Glein) Pfister. The father, a native of Strassburg Alsace, came to America in 1846, settling in New York. The following year he enlisted for service in the Mexico war as a member of the Steven- son regiment, which came to California and was mustered out in Monterey in the latter part of the next year. Deciding to remain on the Pacific coast, Mr. Adolph Pfister then engaged in mining and merchandising in San José, becoming an active factor in the business interests of this place in 1853. In connection with commercial pursuits he also became identified with sev- eral industrial interests, operating a number of large flour mills. He also operated the Lick Paper Mills at Lick Mills, Santa Clara county, and he conducted a distillery, manufacturing whisky from wheat. He was one of the most prominent merchants and business men of an early day, carrying on enterprises that largely promoted the commercial activity of the city. He possessed resourceful business ability with a quick recognition of op- portunity, and he so directed his efforts that they proved not alone a source of individual prosperity, but also an important factor in the general welfare of the community. He was very active and influential in public life along other lines, and for three terms was honored with the mayoralty of San José. His administration was business-like and progressive, redound- ing greatly to the benefit of the municipality. There stands a monument
Rt. frister
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to his life work and to his memory in the free public library of San José, for he gave his salary as mayor toward the library fund. In his busi- ness enterprises in the course of years he realized a fortune, and in 1870 he retired from active participation in industrial and commercial enter- prises. He is still living at the age of eighty-three years and is one of San José's most honored and respected citizens. In early manhood he wedded Louise Glein, and they became the parents of three sons and three daugh- ters: Frank C., the eldest, who was for two years county treasurer and for eight years city justice of the peace, died in 1890. The others are Emily; Matilda, the deceased wife of Professor Schemmel; Della, the de- ceased wife of E. Lomler; and Henry A., who is county clerk of Santa Clara county.
Herman C. Pfister, the youngest member of the family, pursued his education in the public schools of San José until eighteen years of age and then engaged in the hardware business. He afterward devoted his time and energies to the manufacture of mineral waters for about ten years, from 1892 until 1902, and in the spring of 1903, on the death of George Kunz, cashier and bookkeeper for the Eagle Brewing Company, he was ap- pointed to fill that vacancy, which position he now occupies.
In 1890 Mr. Pfister was united in marriage to Miss Pauline Steiger. a native of San José, and a daughter of Andrew Steiger, proprietor of the Steiger Pottery Works and a pioneer settler of California, who arrived in this state in the early '50s. His death occurred in 1889. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pfister having always resided in San José are well known in this city, and the circle of their friends is extensive. He gives his political allegiance to the Democracy and socially is identified with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks and with the Native Sons of the Golden West. He is an enterprising business man who has made good use of his opportunities. thus prospering from year to year, for he has'conducted all business mat- ters carefully and successfully and in all his acts has displayed an aptitude for successful management.
THOMAS RICKARD.
Thomas Rickard, vice-president of Harron, Rickard and McCone, the well known dealers in machinery in San Francisco, has been prominent in the mining and business affairs of the west throughout his active career of seventeen years. His father being engaged in mining enterprises through- out the west and also in Europe, he spent his boyhood days in various states and countries, but since his graduation from university he has made California his principal center of activity. Besides being busied with his many commercial interests he also is a leading member of many clubs and social and political organizations, and has been especially active in the various affairs of his home city, Berkeley.
Mr. Rickard is a native of France but of English parentage. He was born August 28, 1866, being a son of Reuben and Mary E. (Humphreys) Rickard, the latter of a prominent family. her father being manager of Sir
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Thomas Vivian's smelting works at Swansea, Wales. His father was often called the "father of smelting," and was identified with various mining enterprises in both England and France. He was during his later years associated with mining in Nevada, Colorado and California.
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