USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > Men who made San Francisco > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
OIL
72
Joseph A. Sheldon
1 N another part of this book is given a brief description of what has been accomplished by the Mark Sheldon Company.
Joseph A. Sheldon, the president of the com- pany, is one of the successful business men of San Francisco. He was born at Danesville, New York State, of a long line of old New England stock.
His company was among the first to erect permanent buildings in San Francisco after the big fire, and they have always given their sup- port to any movement toward the betterment of the municipality.
Joseph A. Sheldon has always been a Repub- lican. He married Florence Mayer, March 17, 1904, and is the proud father of two small children.
SHELDON BUILDING
73
Joseph H. Rucker
T' HE president of the Joseph H. Rucker Co., Inc., one of the most widely known real estate, loan and insurance concerns in San Francisco, is Joseph Henry Rucker, who was born on March 25, 1865, in San Jose, Califor- nia. Mr. Rucker is a son of Joseph Edmund- son and Susan Rucker, who crossed the plains by ox team in the early fifties, and who went direct to Santa Clara County, where they lived the balance of their lives. Mr. Rucker attended the University of the Pacific after completing his common school course. He was married to Mary Phileta Dunne on June 6, 1888, and has three sons, Joseph Edmundson, De Witt C., and Jerome W. Rucker, the first named being asso- ciated with his father, with headquarters at the firm's San Jose office.
REALESTATE JOSEPH H RUCKER
0
ANT
FOR
APPLY
TO
IF YOU DON'T
MONEY
PAUL
JERRY!
74
SALE
JOSEPH H RUNKER
DO BUSINESS WITH ME WE BOTH LOSE
Percy R. Stuart
P ERCY R. STUART is a son of Daniel Stuart, one of Oakland's pioneers, having been a resident of that city since 1856. The subject of this sketch was born there in 1873. He attended the University of California for two years, and then spent two and a half years in practical experience in mechanical work, after which for four years he was a mechanical draughtsman for the Risdon Iron Works. Be- cr.ming engineer for the California Iron Works, he rose to manager, and during his service with this concern carried through both in design and construction a number of engineering tasks of magnitude, among them being the 2,650-foot cable, which carries narrow-gauge lumber cars across the American river. In 1901 Mr. Stuart became Pacific Coast manager for the Roebling Construction Company of New York. He has completed fire-proofing contracts in many build- ings along the Coast, among them being the Merchants' Exchange, Custom House, St. Francis Hotel, Mutual Savings Bank, and the Shreve, Crocker, Grant and Telephone build- ings of San Francisco, the Union Trust building of Los Angeles, and the State Capitol at Sacramento.
ROEBLING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
75
ARTHUR M. BROWN
THAT'S THE FASTEST BOAT OF THE S.F. VACHT CLUB
OM - YOU BOHEMIAN CLUB
FIRE !
GLUDE X
INSURANCE CU
76
Frank Alton Somers
THE subject of this sketch, Frank Alton Somers, is a man of a great diversity of interests. He is president of Somers & Co., the Alfalfa Products Co., Somers Estate Co., and Mccullough Provision Co., is a director of the American National Bank, the Classen Chem- ical Co., and the Merchants Exchange, and a member of the Governing Board of the Traffic Bureau of the latter body. Mr. Somers was born in 1870 in San Francisco and has been actively engaged in business for the past twenty-two years. His keen judgment and aggressive busi- ness policy would mark him for success in any community, and San Francisco is fortunate in having him as one of her representative citizens.
17
William B. Reis
W ILLIAM BATTE REIS, president of the Reis Estate Company, is a son of J. C. Reis, once a prominent San Francisco banker. His mother was Ellen W. Dent when she mar- ried the elder Reis, being a daughter of General George W. Dent, a brother-in-law of General U. S. Grant. William B. Reis was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1867. He is a capitalist by business, and in addition to his posi- tion with the Reis Estate Company, is president of the American Construction Company, and a director of several corporations. He was edu- cated at the Rensselaer Polytechnic School, in Troy, New York. Mr. Reis is a widower and has one young son.
-
AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION CO.
78
H. L. Owesney
O NE of the pioneers in the motor car in- dustry of this country is H. L. Owesney, Pacific Coast manager for the Winton Motor Car Co., and identified with that concern for the past twelve years in every department of both the manufacturing and selling ends of its busi- ness. Always of a mechanical turn of mind. Mr. Owesney was attracted to the automobile business, which was still in its experimental stage when he graduated from school. He began with the Winton Company as an apprentice. By consistent and conscientious work, he earned repeated promotion, first to the assembling de- partment, then to the experimental department.
He was then made foreman of the repair department, then chief tester, and so on through the inportant positions in the factory. Realizing the broader field of the selling end of the indus- try, he finally entered it and has been tremendously successful. Under his sales-managership, the Winton Company's business on the Pacific Coast has increased more than 700 per cent. in three years.
79
JONAS BLOOM Mr. Bloom is a member of the firm of Bloom Brothers. Coffee Importers
O ....
COFFEE
PAUL TERRY ==
80
William Henry Weeks
I IT WOULD seem that the whole world has contributed to the roll of citizens of San Francisco. In reviewing a list of the birthplaces of the people of this city one cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that they take in almost all parts of the habitable globe.
Mr. William Henry Weeks was born on Prince Edwards Island, June 18, 1865. He came to San Francisco when quite a boy and soon established for himself a reputation as an architect.
He has designed some of the best known buildings in the state of California, is a staunch Republican and a well respected citizen.
0
00001
000000001
0
8
Charles L. Patton
A MONG the attorneys of San Francisco, whose practice lies wholly in the civil courts, is Charles I .. Patton, who in his prac- tice has been identified with some of the largest interests of both the city and state. He was born in Petaluma in 1864, his parents belonging to an ancient and honored Philadelphia family. He himself was educated in his profession in Philadelphia, being admitted to practice in this state in 1887. He has a large practice, elegant offices and a splendid law and miscellaneous library. He is a great lover of books and is con- sidered a connoisseur of them. In 1898 he was a candidate for mayor of San Francisco, and, alihough he was defeated, received the largest vote ever given a Republican mayoralty candi- date in the city. He has been prominent in the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, Odd Fellows and Native Sons. He resides at Fair Oaks.
LAW
AW
SUPREME COURT
BRIEF
1
ANSWER
COMPLAINT
82
Gaillard Stoney
P ROMINENT among the attorneys of San Francisco is Gaillard Stoney, of the law fum of Stoney, Rouleau & Stoney.
Born at Napa, Cal., April 28, 1868, he has since been closely allied with the life of San Francisco. He graduated from the University of California in 1888, and from the Hastings Law College in 1890. From 1893 to 1899 he was assistant to the city and county attorney of San Francisco. From 1895 to 1902 he was the head of the Beta Theta Pi college fra- ternity on the Coast. On graduating from the University of California he took the commission of Colonel of University Cadets. He is a staunch Democrat and has always stood for clean politics. He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel on the staff of Governor Gillett.
15 Y
C
BLACKSTONE
0
83
C. O. Swanberg
F ROM a sailor before the mast to a position of importance in the San Francisco business world is the story of the progress of C. O. Swanberg. Born in Sweden in 1846, Mr. Swanberg became a sailor at the age of 9. At 17 he became second officer of a steamship on the coast of Brazil and Uruguay. Afterward he went from Montevideo to Kallaue as chief officer on an English ship, and then spent sev- eral years in Peru and Ecuador, engaged in various mercantile pursuits. He arrived in San Francisco in 1870, and has ever since been en- gaged here, in the State of Washington, and on the Eastern coast, as well in wholesaling and planting oysters. Mr. Swanberg is a director of the Morgan Oyster Co., president of the Mer- chants' Ice and Cold Storage Co., and president and manager of the Portola Cafe. He has large farming and dairying interests in Sweden. Hehas been married twice and has three children.
--
84
PATRICK BRODERICK
SAN FRANCISCO
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS SAN FRANCISCO
CONTRACT
ANDLIGATIEN
CONTRACT
=
BOARD OF
PUBLIC WORKS
>85
U.S. MINT
So auf
HEY- SHOW ME THROUGH
TOURIST
Edward Sweeney
E DWARD SWEENEY holds the important position of Superintendent of the United States mint. He is a son of Daniel and Hannah Sweeney, both natives of Ireland, and was born in Fall River, Mass., on Christmas day, 1853. He graduated from the Albany Law School in 1880, and practiced his profession for many years, having been district attorney of Shasta County, California, for three terms, and Superior Judge of Shasta County for two terms before being appointed to his present position. He is a Republican politically. Mr. Sweeney was mar- ried in 1892 to Miss Mary S. Andrew.
86
Robert Oxnard
R OBERT OXNARD, vice-president of the American Beet Sugar Co., is one of the best known men of affairs in San Francisco.
The success of this gigantic enterprise, under the management of such able men as Mr. Ox- nard, has been one of the triumphs of the busi- ness world during the last decade.
Robert Oxnard was born in Louisiana in 1853, and after completing his education, was identified with the business of sugar refining in New York until 1888, when he came to Cali- fornia. He has since been a resident of San Francisco and is a member of the Pacific Union, University, Golf and Country Clubs.
His company is one of the largest of the kind in the United States, having beet sugar factories in California, Colorado and Nebraska.
VICE PRESIDENT
SUGAR
AMERICAN BEET SUGAR co.
7
73
AMERICAN SUGAR CO
87
THEODORE A. BELL
w
8%
DAILY PAPER
LAW
-
88
Harry I. Mulcrevy
H ARRY I. MULCREVY, county clerk, was born in San Francisco, July 15, 1868, of pioneer parents. Graduating from Sacred Heart College, he entered the employ of the largest printing house on the Coast and soon rose to be its assistant secretary.
He was elected to the Assembly in 1896. becoming chairman of the San Francisco dele- gation. He was elected county clerk in 1905 and re-chosen each succeeding election.
Mr. Mulcrevy is an exponent of the higher ethical code in politics. He is a stickler for pro- bity-a reformer, but not a fanatic. A strict disciplinarian, he is kind, generous and affable to his subordinates.
Among fraternal organizations he is a zealous worker, being prominent in the Native Sons, Eagles, United Workmen and Woodmen of the World.
CITY MAP SAN FRANCISCO
0
48313 ALNunca
89
George W. McNear, Jr.
T HE names of natives of San Francisco are written large in the history of its develop- ment and progress. George W. McNear, Jr., son of George W. and Amanda McNear, was born in the City by the Golden Gate in 1868, and has long been identified with its business activities. He is now president of the George W. McNear Co., Inc. He is also a member of the firm of McNear & Wayman, president of the Port Costa Water Co., and vice-president of the Port Costa Milling Co. He is a Republican in politics, and for the past three years has been trustee of the City of Piedmont. Mr. McNear was married to Etta B. Tucker in 1890 and has three children.
SHIPPING ORDER
-
TANO
WHEAT CATE
@4ALL4.
0-0
/ GRAIN !
ELEVATOR
GEO W
MENEAR
90
SIMON HARRIS
...
SONG
=
LATEST MIT
MUSIC
PROGRAM-
WIGWAM
DIRECT
THEATER
NY
SKETCH
....
SKIT- --
-
-
-
-
MOVING PICTURES FIRST RUM
91
George H. Clark
G EORGE HARVEY CLARK holds the responsible position of general manager for N. Gray & Co. of San Francisco and the James Taylor Co. of Oakland, two of the largest under- taking firms in California. Mr. Clark is himself an undertaker and funeral director of many years' experience. He was born at Florin, Sacramento County, in 1864, and, spending much of his bfe in his native county, was for years prominently identified with its political life. For four terms he was coroner of Sacramento County, and for two terms he was mayor of the city of Sacramento. He is a Republican in politics. Mr. Clark is married and has one child, a son, who is 16 years old.
FERRY
92
C. H. Bentley
C HARLES HARVEY BENTLEY, who's one of the progressive business men playing an important part in the "Making of San Fran- cisco," was born in this city in 1869. His father was Robert Bentley, a clergyman.
Mr. Bentley is in the manufacturing business, and is a director and sales manager for the Cali- fornia Fruit Canners' Association.
He was a trustee of the Chamber of Com- merce for five years and president of that body during 1907. For several years Mr. Bentley was a trustee of the San Francisco Public Library, and is now president of the Board of Trustees. He was graduated from the University of California with the class of 1891. Politically he is a Re- publican.
CALIFORNIA FRUIT CANNERS ASSN.
SALES DEPARTMENT
CALIFORNIA FRUIT CANNERS ASSN.
CALIFORNIA FRUIT CANNERS' ASSOCIATION SAN FRANCISCO
93
Sylvain Schnaittacher
S YLVAIN SCHNAITTACHER, architect by profession, is a native of San Francisco, and was born November 30, 1874. He grad- uated from Boys High School and attended the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, after which he received five years' office training, from 1891 to 1896, in the office of the late A. Page Brown. After the untimely death of Mr. Brown, he spent some time studying abroad, returning to San Fran- cisco in 1901, since when he has been in the con- stant practice of his profession. He was made an Associate of the American Institute of Archi- tects in 1905 and the year following was elected Secretary of the San Francisco Chapter, American Institute of Architects, which office he has held since. Recently he was appointed by Former Governor Gillett to fill a vacancy on the State Board of Architecture. Mr. Schnaittacher was the architect of many prominent buildings in the reconstruction of San Francisco, notably the Cen- tral Realty Building, a building for E. W. Hopkins, Post and Powell streets, and the Prager De- partment Store building, Market and Jones streets. Mr. Schnaittacher is a member of the Argo- naut, Automobile and Olympic Clubs. In 1908 he was married to Miss Cecelia Shirek of this city. They have one child, a boy.
ARGONAUT BLDG
JE
94
DR. ALFRED E. REGENSBURGER Well Known Dermatologist and Globe-Trotter.
TALL TORRY
95
Gustave Brenner
L ONG is the list of achievements and re- sponsibilities to the credit of Gustave Bren- ner, capitalist, who was born in Germany in 1862, but who has been active in San Fran- cisco life for many years. Mr. Brenner was elected vice-president of the Merchants' Asso- ciation in the early part of 1910, having pre- viously been one of its directors. He was for- merly a trustee of the Chamber of Commerce, and for eight years has been president of the San Francisco Credit Men's Association. He was a supervisor under the administration of Mayor E. R. Taylor, having been appointed by Taylor on his roll of honor. He was also on the executive committee of the Sanitation Campaign, and is on the directorate of the Lin- coln Realty Co. and the William Morris Co. Western. He was chairman of Division 2 of the Finance Committee of the Panama-Pacific Exposition Co. Mr. Brenner's business and civic activities have not deprived him of the joys of home life, as he is married and the father of a son and three daughters.
BOOST FOR THE PANAMA INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION SAN FRANCISCO 1915
IN ICY BUSINESS
INTERESTS
6
BUSINESS INTERESSI
PAUL TERNY .
96
William Denman
W V TILLIAM DENMAN, attorney at law, was born in San Francisco in 1872, of New York and New England ancestors, the first of whom arrived in America in 1631. His father was James Denman, Superintendent of Schools and principal of the first school in San Francisco under the state system. His mother was formerly Miss Helen V. Jordan of Maine. Mr. Denman graduated from the University of California in 1894 and from the Harvard Law School in 1897. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Admitted to the bar in 1898, he has since been in general practice in both Federal and State courts, having achieved considerable dis- tinction for his conduct of litigation arising from the sinking of the Rio de Janeiro, the explosion or the Progress, the collision of the Columbia and San Pedro, and other notable maritime cases.
He was a lecturer and assistant professor of law in the Hastings Law College and Uni- versity of California, 1902 to 1906. He was chairman of the committee and author of the re- port on the Cause of Municipal Corruption in San Francisco. He has long been active in the work of the Bar Association and an organizer of the state-wide movement for non-partisan ju- dicial elections.
LAW
LAW
To-
97
George W. Barnhart
G 1 EORGE W. BARNHART, western manager for the Marion Steam Shovel Company, 718 Monadnock building, San Fran- cisco, was born near Marion, Marion County, Ohio. He came to San Francisco about 34 years ago, finding employment in the law de- partment of the firm of A. L. Bancroft & Co. After a fire destroyed the Bancroft building in 1886, he took a position with the firm of Ban- croft-Whitney Co. After being there two years, he became, in 1888, western manager for the Marion Steam Shovel Company, and has held this position for 22 years.
The Marion Steam Shovel Company, whose works are located at Marion, Ohio, is one of the largest manufacturing establishments of its kind in the country. Its trade extends all over the civilized world, and it has agencies in every important foreign country. Mr. Barnhart has handled a vast amount of business for it on the Pacific Coast.
150
98
1. 195
TERRY
hem
1
E. C. Leffingwell
E LMORE C. LEFFINGWELL was pri- vate secretary to ex-Mayor McCarthy of San Francisco, and was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 29, 1875. He spent his early years in Milwaukee, and after completing his edu- cation there became a reporter and cartoonist for Peck's Sun, a widely-known weekly journal. He soon passed on to daily newspaper work, moved to Chicago, and from that city came to San Fran- cisco to work for the Chronicle in 1893. He was with the Chronicle for three years, then with the Post, subsequently serving as telegraph edi- tor of the Examiner and as night editor of the Associated Press. While political editor of the Evening Post he was appointed to the Board of Election Commissioners, serving three years while still doing newspaper work. He was then appointed secretary of the Board of Education, serving four years in that capacity. He had long been a friend and admirer of P. H. Mc- Carthy, supporting the mayor when he first ran for the office. In the last municipal campaign he plunged into the fight earnestly, and when Mr. McCarthy was elected he at once chose Mr. Leffingwell for his secretary. Mr. Leffing- well is a Republican in national politics, but has always been an active supporter of organized labor. He at one time formed a Reporters' Union here. He has held several offices in the San Francisco Press Club and is also a member of the Olympic Club.
99
Walker C. Graves
W ALKER COLEMAN GRAVES, at- torney at law, was born in Kentucky on June 10, 1849. His parents, Coleman and Virginia Graves, were both natives of Virginia. Graduating from the University of Kentucky law school in 1878, Mr. Graves has practiced his profession for thirty years in San Francisco. He married Maude Strother James, daughter of the late Jefferson G. James, May 17, 1882, and has two sons, Jefferson James Graves and Walker Coleman Graves, both grown. He was special assistant district attorney of San Francisco for two years, and was the Democratic candidate for Attorney General the year ex-Mayor Pond ran for governor. He is now president of the J. G. James Co., engaged in the wholesale butcher, cattle and ranch business, and in the colonization of 18,000 acres of land, a part of the company's Fresno ranch of 75,000 acres. Mr. Graves is still engaged in the active practice of law.
100
S. A. KNAPP
101
J. V. Coleman
J AMES V. COLEMAN was born in New York in 1851, of Irish parents. A gradu- ate of Georgetown University, he is the holder of the following degrees: A. B., A. M., LL. B., and Ph. D. Although graduated a lawyer he never practiced, but early came West and took up mining. In public life he served as Assemblyman from San Mateo in 1882-4, and was chairman and author of Lake Bigler For- estry Commission. Still on the Democratic party, he ran for nomination for governor in 1886, when Pond was nominated. One hundred and thirty-six delegates stayed with him to the last, refusing to change their votes. Mr. Coleman is married and has one son.
102
Edward Chambers
E DWARD CHAMBERS is one of the Santa Fe railroad's big men in the West. He has been identified with the road in Cali- fornia for many years and has done much to- ward building up its traffic here. Mr. Cham- bers is assistant freight and traffic manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe system. He is a native of Illinois, having been born in that state on February 16, 1859.
103
James Newlands, Jr.
A N adopted son of the City by the Golden Gate is James Newlands, Jr., who came to California in the year of 1878, and with a school and business college education, at the age of 19 started his way up the ladder of success. After he had spent several years in the wilds of Nevada, mining, assaying, surveying and ranch- ing, his ability was brought to the attention of the Sharons, who were quick to recognize him as the right man in the right place, and at the age of 26 he was placed in charge of the vast interests of the estate throughout California. He soon became a director of the estate, and is now president of several well known mining companies and a part owner of the famous Mt. Tamalpais mine. Mr. Newlands was born in Washington, D. C., in 1869.
trr rrr
.
n
TASTIG
104
Benj. G. McDougall
B ENJAMIN GEER MCDOUGALL, architect, has long been identified with many of the biggest architectural undertakings, not only in San Francisco, but in the interior of the state. Mr. MeDougall is an architect by heritage, having at one time been a member
of the firm of McDougall & Son, his father hav- ing been Barnett MeDougall. Born in San Francisco in 1866. Mr. McDougall took up the study of architecture in 1883, and has pur- sued the profession actively ever since. He was married on May 14, 1896, to Miss Frances E. Hawkins, three children being born to them.
O
PAÚL
TERRY
PLANS
....
PLANS
PLA
105
WILLIAM G. HENSHAW
901
E. E. Hewlett
E. E. HEWLETT is one of the best known young attorneys of San Francisco. He was born in Petaluma, California, on June 5, 1878. Aside from being a Native Son, he has in him the sturdy mixture of England and New England blood, his father being a native of the mother country and his mother of Maine. Mr. Hewlett graduated from the University of Cali- fornia as a Bachelor of Letters in 1900. He later received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the Hastings Law College and still later from the great Harvard Law School. He is married, is a Republican in politics, and has a big practice in his profession.
1
0
107
Thomas S. Molloy
S AN FRANCISCO boasts an array of attor- neys at law whose prominence in the Amer- ican bar has long been recognized. Incidentally in their work of restoring titles that were all but lost in the great fire of 1906, they have done much in the rehabilitation of the city, particu- larly in putting the city on a substantial business basis.
One of San Francisco's lawyers whose name stands among the leaders is Thomas S. Molloy, who, like many other prominent citizens, is a native son. Mr. Molloy was born in San Fran- cisco on December 26, 1869. He was edu- cated in the public schools, and then graduated from the University of California in 1892. He has been practicing his profession for many years.
LUSTIG
108
Lester L. Morse
A MAN who has done a great deal toward making San Francisco the great seed cen- tei of the Pacific Coast is Mr. Lester L. Morse. Born in Santa Clara, California, he started in business with his father, C. C. Morse, whose name the company now bears under the presi- dency and management of the son. Five years ago he personally negotiated the combination of the two great companies, The Cox Seed Company and E. J. Bowen & Co., with his own com- pany, a clever merger, which has resulted ad- vantageously for the stockholders of the present concern, C. C. Morse & Co.
Mr. Morse is married and has two children. He is recognized as an active and progressive citizen.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.