USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 22
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In 1879 he transferred his interests to this side of the Bay and first opened to the public of Oakland a store under the name of Kahn Sons, a name that is inseparably linked with the annals of Alameda county. The many struggles that followed (and many they were for Mr. Kahn), were bravely borne, and his arduous labors ultimately brought forth fruits of success. This busy little store was situated at the corner of Twelfth and Broadway, and, the concensus of opinion was an expression of doubt that Mr. Kahn's small estab- lishment, with its corps of three salespeople and a floor space of. 20x40 feet, would even survive the obstacles of a year.
In a few years the business justified the seeking of more spacious accommodations which were found in the vicinity of Tenth and Broadway. The evolution of this store, now one of Oakland's most substantial, progressive and popular institutions of business, would if dealt with step by step fill volumes. In brief, the location has been changed five times, the removal each time being necessitated by the enormously increased patronage which has marked every year in the history of the business.
August 2, 1913, marked the opening of the beautiful new store facing on Sixteenth street, Telegraph and San Pablo avenues. The site occupies an entire acre. The magnificent structure, erected at a cost of three quarters of a million dollars, is a masterpiece in the art of architectural design and in the arrangement for the artistic display of goods together with the many innovations provided to afford convenience and comfort to its patrons.
This store justly holds the distinction of being the largest in Ala- meda county and the third largest in California. The management
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remained in the hands of the founder until 1883 when he passed away. With all the foresight and wisdom with which the father had builded the three sons then continued the business, although Frederick Kahn was not until four years later, 1887, intimately connected with the management. The firm was incorporated in 1903, with Henry Kahn as president. He capably filled that office until his death in 1907 when he was succeeded by the late Solomon Kahn who served the interests of the concern well for three years. In 1910 Frederick Kahn, the only surviving member of the original corporation, assumed the presidency.
Frederick Kahn was born in New York city, September 21, 1860. He acquired his education in grammar school No. 42 of the city of New York and later attended the evening classes of the Thirteenth Street high school. When he began his independent career he was made office manager in a San Francisco importing house, holding this position from 1880 to 1887. In the latter year he joined his brothers in the conduct of the now well established business.
Mercantile interests however have not held his entire attention which is evidenced by his connection with various other capitalistic enterprises. He is also president of the Kahn Realty Company and University Investment Company.
On the 19th of February, 1905, Mr. Kahn was united in mar- riage to Miss Helen Lavenson, a daughter of Samuel Lavenson, a pioneer merchant of Sacramento, and they have become the parents of three children : Frederick, Jr., Rose Etta and Helen Sarah. Mr. Kahn is a member of the First Hebrew Congregation of Oakland and belongs to the Olympic Club, and the Commercial Clubs of both Oakland and San Francisco. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to the San Francisco consistory.
CLARENCE CROWELL.
Clarence Crowell, who is successfully engaged in the general practice of law in Oakland, was born in Waterloo, Iowa, December 17, 1868, and has been a resident of Oakland since 1888. He acquired his legal education in the University of California, from which insti- tution he received his degree in 1894, in the same year beginning the practice of his profession. In 1896 he was made assistant city attorney of Oakland and served one year, after which he was attorney for the public administrator for six years. Since 1900 he has been
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court commissioner of the superior court of Alameda county and has held various other positions of trust and responsibility. As a lawyer he is recognized as a strong and able practitioner. He is well versed in the various departments of the law, is thoroughly devoted to the interests of his clients and his careful preparation of his cases and their clear presentation in the courts are strong elements in an unusually successful legal career.
Mr. Crowell is connected with the Masonic order, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Nile and Commercial Clubs. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and stands high in its councils, having served for ten years as chairman of the repub- lican county central committee. He is now at the head of a large and constantly increasing practice, and his success is the merited reward of his own labor.
J. STITT WILSON.
J. Stitt Wilson needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, as he is known by reputation if not personally to thousands in this country and in Great Britain. He has won distinction as a lecturer upon the various phases of socialism, and few men speak with greater authority upon the subject, for his studies have embraced every phase of life which has to do with socialistic conditions. He was born in Huron county, Ontario, Canada, in 1868, a son of William James and Sarah Ann (Stitt) Wilson, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Ontario, although both were of Scotch descent. On leav- ing Canada the family removed to Huron county, Michigan, where the parents spent their remaining days.
J. Stitt Wilson acquired his classical education in the North- western University at Evanston, Illinois, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897, while in 1901 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him by his alma mater. While pursuing his studies there he was ordained for the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and occupied several pastorates ere his college course was finished, the last being in the Erie Street Methodist church of Chi- cago, where he remained as minister for four years. He was also a worker in the Northwestern University social settlement and in that connection and while serving as pastor of the Erie Street church he became a student of social and industrial science and proclaimed himself a socialist. He then resigned his pastorate and began to
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devote himself entirely to the socialist cause. For years he traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain, preaching the doctrine of socialism, which, based upon a recognition of the rights of the individual and his obligations to his fellowmen, seeks that equitable adjustment in which is tound solution for many of the vexing national problems. In 1901 he removed to Berkeley, where he has since made his home, but at no moment in his life has his enthusiasm waned or his cause been neglected. He has made four trips to England, studying the social problems of that land, lecturing on socialism and on constructive socialistic legislation. In 1910 he was nominated for governor of California on the socialist ticket and was given fifty thousand votes. In 1911 he was elected mayor of Berkeley and in 1913 refused to accept a renomination, feel- ing that he could accomplish more for his cause when left free than when in public office. His work on the public platform in the interest of moral and social reform has been of an illustrious char- acter attended with splendid results. His efforts in this state alone cover thirteen years, during which time he has addressed more people than any other public speaker in California. For several years there has been maintained in San Francisco a hall, in which every Sunday he speaks to a large audience.
Mr. Wilson has been a most thorough student of many of the grave, vital and significant questions of the day. His position is never an equivocal one. He stands fearlessly for what he believes to be right and is an aggressive advocate of woman suffrage, temper- ance reform, prison reform and other lines of action leading to the progress of the community and to the adoption of higher standards. He is a strong opponent of capital punishment and is an ardent worker for a form of taxation which will embrace the taxing of the unearned increment of land values which he declares to be the funda- mental principle for the emancipation of the people from industrial injustice. In 1912 he was socialist candidate for congress, opposing the Hon. J. R. Knowland, and was given a large vote. He has been a student of the subject of international peace and often speaks upon that question. Beside his numerous contributions to the daily press, he has written many pamphlets and several books on social prob- lems, which have been widely read throughout the United States and Europe.
In 1889, in Huron county, Ontario, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Emma Agnew, also a native of that district, and they have three children: William Gladstone, who is now a student in the University of California; Gladys Viola, who is the wife of
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Jack Conway and is known on the stage as Viola Barry; and Violette Rose, who is attending high school in Berkeley and who also gives indication of marked musical and dramatic talent. Mrs. Wilson is especially interested in the socialist movement and often travels with her husband.
BLAKE D. MYERS.
Blake D. Myers occupies an important position in railroad circles in Oakland as terminal agent of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- pany. He began work for the Southern Pacific in 1890 as telegraph operator and advanced through various positions until he was made terminal agent in Oakland in April, 1912, which position he now holds. He has risen steadily and by merit only, and there is great credit due him for what he has achieved. He enjoys the full con- fidence of his superior officers and stands high in the estimation and respect of those who work with and under him. He has many friends in Oakland and is particularly esteemed by the general public because of his courtesy, his obliging manner and his readiness to do a kindness to those who may request his help or assistance.
WILLIAM BLANCHARD BANCROFT.
William Blanchard Bancroft is a man of initiative, enterprise and discrimination and in the course of a long and successful business career has been identified with a number of important corporate interests in various parts of the United States and London and was for many years one of the greatest individual forces in the upbuild- ing and development of the Bancroft Publishing Company of San Francisco. For a number of years past he has been identified with the real-estate business in Oakland, and he controls today a large and representative patronage. He was born in Grand Prairie, Dunk- lin county, Missouri, September 27, 1847, and is a son of Curtis and Louisa J. (Lamb) Bancroft, the former a native of Grandville, Ohio, and the latter of Kentucky. The parents crossed the plains to Cali- fornia in 1850 and arrived in Hangtown, now Placerville. The father afterward engaged in mining on Rich Bar, Plumas county, and later built and operated the National Hotel at Bidwell's Bar.
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W. B. Bancroft came by the Nicaraguan route to California in August, 1854, being at that time seven years of age. He made the journey up the coast to San Francisco on the historic old steamer Brother Jonathan and from San Francisco pushed on to Bidwell's Bar, where he acquired his preliminary education in private schools and subscription schools. He later attended the Oak Grove Institute of Alameda, being but twelve years of age, the youngest boarding pupil, and he also studied in the public schools of San Francisco. In 1861 he entered the employ of H. H. Bancroft & Company, book- sellers and stationers of San Francisco, and for twenty-nine years thereafter did able work in the service of this corporation. Starting in as an errand boy he rose through every department, learning the business in principle and detail. He spent some time as a bookkeeper and was later, at eighteen years of age, sent to New York, where he took complete charge of the company's wholesale department. He subsequently returned to California and traveled all over the Pacific coast in the interests of the company, which numbered him among its most trusted and able representatives. The period of his con- nection with H. H. Bancroft & Company was not continuous, for in August, 1869, Mr. Bancroft went to San Diego, purchased three lots and built a small store, engaging in the book and stationery business for himself. When he returned to San Francisco he again joined the Bancroft Company, becoming manager of the printing, book- binding and publishing department, a position which offered ade- quate scope to his initiative power and executive ability. Under his administration the business increased from sixty-five thousand dollars a year to half a million in 1886 when the building was destroyed by fire.
Mr. Bancroft later went to New York, where he became asso- ciated with the American Trading Company and was sent by them to London as resident agent with the full unrestricted power of attorney to reorganize their London office. He accomplished this work so successfully that he purchased for them a business worth twelve and one-half million dollars. After a number of years of unusually able and discriminating service Mr. Bancroft resigned from the employ of the American Trading Company and again entered the publishing business. He compiled in London a book called "Bancroft's Americans in London," which was made a standard volume and published every year for six years. At the request of his brother, H. P. Bancroft, Mr. Bancroft of this review returned to California and became associated in the real-estate business in Oak- land with the Breed & Bancroft Company. At the end of six years
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he returned to London but after one year came again to Oakland, resuming his real-estate operations independently.
Mr. Bancroft is a member of the London-American Society and well known in club circles of the world's metropolis, holding mem- bership in the Queen's Athletic Club and the Balham Constitutional Club of London and also the London branch of the United States Navy League, of which he was one of the incorporators. He is prominent in the affairs of the Athenian Club of Oakland. He is a man of broad culture, progressive views and high ideals and is well and favorably known in the social life of the community. In business circles he occupies a place of prominence and distinction, being widely recognized as a man of tried integrity and worth.
OLIN D. JACOBY.
Since 1908 Olin D. Jacoby has been cashier of the First Trust and Savings Bank of Oakland, occupying a foremost position in the financial life of that city. He was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, in December, 1880, and is a son of E. H. and Maria (Trumbull) Jacoby. He attended public and preparatory schools until nineteen years of age, when he went to New York city and entered the office of a marine insurance company as a clerk, remaining with that firm for one year. He then was for six months clerk and stenographer in the employ of the Western National Bank. At the end of that time he crossed the continent to Los Angeles and for three months held a position as stenographer with the Santa Fe Railroad Company in that city. His next position, covering a period of six months, was as clerk of the West Side Lumber Company at Tuolumne, California. Upon coming to San Francisco he became a clerk in the American National Bank, continuing in that position for three years, when he was made assistant cashier of that institution. In 1908 Mr. Jacoby came to Oak- land as cashier of the First Trust and Savings Bank, and he has ever since held that position. This institution has greatly prospered under his able management and has gained in prestige and solidity.
On July 6, 1903, Mr. Jacoby married, in Los Angeles, Miss Elizabeth Jones, and they have three children, Esther Barbara, Harold Stanley and Roger De Vere. Mr. Jacoby is a democrat and thoroughly in accord with the principles of his party. He is con- versant with the issues of the day and deeply interested in the growth of his city and county, although not an office seeker and not anxious
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to actively enter into political contests. He is a member of the Metho- dist church and is deeply interested in its work, and is also president of the Alameda County Epworth League Alliance. Mr. Jacoby is an American citizen of the highest type, a man who is considerate of the interests of others and who is ever ready to promote the gen- eral welfare and the growth and expansion of his community.
GRANT D. MILLER.
Grant D. Miller is a well known undertaker of Oakland, con- ducting a handsomely appointed establishment at No. 2372 East Fourteenth street. His birth occurred in Amador county, California, on the 24th of November, 1863, his parents being David R. and Julia (Hinkson) Miller. It was in 1851 that the father came to this state, settling in Amador county, where he engaged in business as a black- smith and subsequently conducted a carriage factory until 1884. In that year he removed to Merced, California, and there carried on agricultural pursuits until the time of his retirement in 1908, being the first fruit grower of the county. His demise occurred in January, 1909. The mother of our subject, who is still living in Oakland, crossed the plains when a girl of nine years with her parents. The journey was made with ox teams from Washington county, Missouri, and the family settled in Amador county, California, where she grew to womanhood and where her parents died. Grant D. was the second in order of birth in a family of five children, the others being: Edith, the wife of F. B. Layton, of Eureka; Harry, a resident of Oakland; Edna, the wife of Donald Foster, of San Francisco; and Julia, of Oakland.
Grant D. Miller attended the public schools until sixteen years of age and then came to San Francisco, where he entered the Pacific Business College, being graduated from that institution at the end of six months. Subsequently he was employed as clerk by Wells Fargo & Company for two years and on the expiration of that period went to Mariposa, California, serving as secretary of the Compromise Mining Company until 1884. In that year he removed to Merced and there followed farming in association with his father. In May, 1900, during the famous Klondike strike, he went to Alaska and from June until November of that year was at Nome. He then came to Oakland and established the undertaking business which he now con- ducts. In this connection he has won a well merited measure of pros-
GRANT D. MILLER
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perity that has gained him recognition among the substantial and representative citizens of Alameda county.
On the 8th of November, 1894, in Fresno, California, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Nella Wood, a daughter of the Rev. I. D. Wood. They now have two children: Marjorie, who is a high-school graduate; and Jean, who is still attending the high school.
In politics Mr. Miller is a republican and he is now a candidate for the office of county coroner. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church. He belongs to the San Francisco Press Club and the Young Men's Christian Association and is identified fraternally with the following organizations: Brooklyn Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; the Native Sons, of which he is past president; the Woodmen of the World; the subordinate lodge and encampment of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Knights of Pythias. Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are popular in the social circles of their community and are highly regarded.
H. C. CAPWELL.
The leaders are few. The majority of men are content to remain in positions where circumstance or environment has placed them, lacking the ambition and the determination which would enable them to advance and become active in control of business enterprises or important interests. Contrary to the general rule and, therefore, standing as a central figure on the stage of activity among his fellows is H. C. Capwell, to whom Oakland owes much for the develop- ment of her commercial interests, for he stands at the head of the H. C. Capwell Company, owners of the largest and most important department store in Alameda county. Moreover, he has been deeply and actively concerned in municipal affairs, especially along the line of improving and beautifying the city, and whether in business or public connections is actuated at all times by the spirit of modern progress.
Mr. Capwell is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Grand Ledge in the year 1858. His father, William Capwell, was born in New York, but in early life removed westward to Michigan, establishing his home near Grand Ledge, where he engaged in stock- raising, being one of the pioneer settlers of that section of the state. Vol. II 15
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At the usual age H. C. Capwell became a pupil in the public schools near his father's home and afterward had the benefit of instruction in Wheelock Academy of Grand Ledge. He has been identified with the western coast since 1880, in which year, as representative of several eastern mercantile firms, he took charge of a San Francisco office, spending two years in that connection. In 1889 he removed to Oakland, where he established a small store that formed the nucleus of his present gigantic and attractive establishment. His business grew steadily from the beginning and something of the extent and importance of the enterprise is indicated in the fact that the H. C. Capwell Company now employs a sales force of five hundred people. Moreover, he has ever held to the highest standards in the character of goods carried, in the personnel of the house and in the treatment of patrons. Courtesy as well as straightforward dealing is demanded from all of his employes, and the attractive trade methods insure a continuance of the liberal patronage that has long been accorded the house. The company has erected a magnificent business block, which adds much to the architectural adornment of Oakland. Mr. Capwell remains as president of the company and its chief stockholder, and the business is a monument to his enterprise, keen sagacity and initia- tive spirit. He is also the president of the Security Bank & Trust Company of Oakland, which is likewise one of the visible evidences of his ability, industry and integrity. He was very active in the founding of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce and has been one of its moving spirits. It was when he was president of the old Board of Trade that, in 1905, he circulated the petition for the formation of the present Chamber of Commerce, of which he became president.
In 1890 Mr. Capwell was united in marriage to Miss Edwards, a daughter of a prominent capitalist and bond broker of San Fran- cisco. The family now numbers a son and two daughters. That Mr. Capwell is descended from one of the old colonial families is indi- cated in the fact that he is entitled to membership with the Sons of the American Revolution, for among his ancestors were those who fought for independence. Using his prerogative to become identified with the patriotic organization of the present day, he has taken active part in its work, has held the office of director and has been honored with the position of state president. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar and also a prominent Elk. He is a past exalted ruler of the Elks lodge of Oakland and was its chief official at the time of the erection of the new Elks building. He belongs to a number of | the leading clubs and social organizations of the Bay cities, including the Bohemian Club of San Francisco, the Claremont Country Club,
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the Sequoia Country Club and the Nile and Athenian Clubs of Oakland.
He is perhaps best known, outside of business circles, by reason of his connection with those agencies which work for civic betterment. He has been identified with many projects which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride and his labors have been an effective force in advancing the welfare of his city. A contemporary writer has said of him: "A shrewd business man, a logical thinker and a con- vincing advocate, combined with his unswerving loyalty, has made him a potent factor of conceded leadership in all enterprises initiated for the development of Oakland and Alameda county. Generous and responsive, he has given with a free hand to many worthy causes and may well be regarded as one of Alameda county's foremost merchants. Mr. Capwell is a very pleasing and forceful speaker and his personality captivates his audiences. His humor is ever- ready and infectious." There has been nothing esoteric in his entire life history, nor have there been any unusual circumstances or advantages. The opportunities which he has recognized and utilized are such as are open to all, and it is because he has had the ability to persevere in the pursuit of a persistent purpose that he stands today where he does, as a leading representative and honored citizen of Oakland, prominent in business and equally prominent in civic and social affairs.
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