USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 29
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Vol. II-19
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interests of the creamery company. He has always followed fair and square methods and in business circles his name stands high.
On January 6, 1890, Mr. Santana married Miss Anna Joseph, a native of San Leandro, and their children are - Isabelle, John and Joseph. Mrs. Santana is a member of the Ladies of the Portuguese Society but she finds her greatest happiness at her own fireside and with her husband and children.
Mr. Santana has resided in San Leandro for the past twenty-five years and has always showed a laudable interest in public progress. For the past six years he has been a member of the San Leandro school board and for four years has served on the board of town trustees. He is a republican in a general sense but since Woodrow Wilson has occupied the presidential chair has developed a strong liking for the man in whose policy and sincerity he implicitly believes. Mr. Santana is a member of the U. P. E. C. and J. D. E. S. (Portu- guese societies ) and the Knights of Pythias. He is popular in these or- ganizations and is considered one of the most prominent Portuguese- Americans of Alameda county. In him are combined the courtesy and politeness which are the heritage of his native race, with an aggressiveness and business judgment which are considered to be the chief American characteristics.
GEORGE F. RICE.
George F. Rice is prominent as a building contractor of Berk- eley and Oakland, having thus been successfully engaged in business for the past eleven years. He is a native of California, his birth having occurred in Sonoma county, this state, on the 18th of July, 1877. His father, Jacob Rice, came to California in 1852 and be- gan mining in Angels Camp, Placer county. Subsequently he set- tled in Sonoma county and there devoted his attention to ranching throughout the remainder of his life, passing away in 1909.
George F. Rice attended the graded and high schools of Santa Clara county until sixteen years of age and then began the operation of a fruit ranch on his own account, conducting the same until he disposed of the property in 1898. In that year he embarked in the contracting business in the town of Santa Clara, there remaining until 1903, when he came to Oakland. Throughout the past eleven years he has met with gratifying success as a general contractor of Berkeley and Oakland, having erected some of the largest apart-
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ment houses in Oakland as well as stores and a large number of handsome residences. That his ability is widely recognized is at- tested by the fact that many important contracts are awarded him.
Mr. Rice is fraternally identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Oakland and the Foresters, being a member of Berkeley Lodge of the latter organization, and has filled all of the chairs in both orders. He is popular in both business and social circles of his community and has won an extensive circle of warm friends here.
MILLARD JOSEPHUS LAYMANCE.
The life record of Millard J. Laymance entitles him pre-emi- nently to the distinctive title of one of the "builders" of his city, and as such he has contributed a notable share to the material progress of all the communities bordering on the bay of San Francisco. More than half his life has been spent in California, and he is still in his prime, wielding a substantial influence for the upbuilding of the city and possessing the respect and esteem of his fellows.
Mr. Laymance is of southern birth and ancestry and was born at Tunnel Hill, Whitfield county, Georgia, November 10, 1856. His parents were Elijah M. and Adeline D. Laymance, the former being a native of South Carolina and for many years a planter and merchant of Georgia, whither he came with his father when a boy. The grandfather was born in France and coming to America, settled in South Carolina as a planter. On the maternal side, the great- great-grandfather of Millard J. Laymance came to this country from England and settled in eastern Tennessee.
Millard J. Laymance spent his boyhood on his father's planta- tion and was instructed by private tutors until he was fourteen years of age, after which for five years he acted as clerk in a general store. At the age of nineteen years he was thrown upon his own resources and decided to carve out his career in the west. Accordingly, he came to California and settled in Sonoma county, where he engaged in the raising of wine grapes. In 1887 he went to Humboldt county, Nevada, and enlarged his holdings, becoming interested in raising cattle on a large scale. He continued in this business for seven years, at the same time becoming connected with several gold and copper mining enterprises, with gratifying success. In 1884 he be- gan raising wheat on a ranch of three thousand acres in San Joaquin
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county, and after three years he sold out his ranch and came to Oak- land. He then engaged in the real estate business, his offices being at Nos. 460-462 Eighth street, where he dealt in city and farm property under the firm name of M. J. Lymance & Company. A few years later the firm was incorporated, with Mr. Laymance as its president, under the name of the Laymance Real Estate Com- pany, and the corporation has since continued as one of the most important realty brokerage houses in Oakland, if not on the coast. The company has dealt in large tracts and valuable properties in Oakland and has engineered some of the most notable real-estate deals in the city. By reason of his extensive business Mr. Laymance has been foremost in the upbuilding of Oakland, "the Athens of America." He has erected many large buildings, among which may be mentioned the fine Orpheum Theater structure, and was one of the prime movers in the building of the Hotel Oakland-one of the finest hotels in the west. He is one of its directors and a member of the finance, building and furnishing committee.
Besides his real estate business Mr. Laymance is heavily and extensively interested in a large number of other enterprises in the city of Oakland. Mr. Laymance has been identified with the oil interests of this state for the last fifteen years-was one of the orig- inal organizers and directors of the Associated Oil Company and was one of the pioneer oil operators at McKittrick in the McKittrick district, California, and is president and director of several large oil companies operating at Maricopa and the Midway oil fields.
Mr. Laymance was married in July, 1884, to Mary L. Lemon, daughter of William S. Lemon, a pioneer of Oakland and of the state. To them were born four children: Ada, who married Edwards Hall Dodge; Blanche Leila, the wife of Leslie Rice; Miss Grace, and Hazel D., wife of Henry A. Heilbron, Jr., of Sacra- mento.
Aside from his business activities Mr. Laymance has been ex- ceedingly prominent in civic affairs. He was director for a number of years of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, is vice president and director of the Oakland Commercial Club and director and member of the executive committee of the Tax Association. Has always taken great interest in the Oakland harbor and its develop- ment, as chairman of the harbor committee of the Oakland Com- mercial Club and for the past twenty years has devoted a great deal of his time and energy to the development of the harbor of the city of Oakland. As a member of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress he has attended a number of meetings of the congress in
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Washington. As a member of the California Development Board he has performed valuable service in advertising to the world Cali- fornia's immense resources and opportunities. He was president of the Alameda County World's Fair Association, which he rep- resented at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
In political affairs Mr. Laymance is a stanch democrat and served eight years as chairman of the Democratic County Central Committee. He occupies a prominent position as a clubman, being affiliated with the Sierra Madre Club of Los Angeles; the Southern Club of San Francisco; and the Oakland Commercial Club, Athen- ian and Nile Clubs of Oakland. He is also a member of Oakland Lodge, No. 188, A. F. & A. M., and the Oakland Chapter, R. A. M. He participates in all matters of civic endeavor and in a personal way is known as a cultured, refined and amiable gentleman, extremely popular in his choice circle of friends.
EDWIN STEARNS.
Edwin Stearns is the secretary of the Down Town Association and as such is widely and popularly known in Oakland. The width of the continent separates him from his birthplace, for he is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born June 20, 1857, his parents being Nathaniel C. and Sarah A. Stearns. He attended the public and Latin schools of his native city until fourteen years of age, when he made his initial step in the business world by entering the employ of the Saturday Evening Gazette and Boston Post in a reportorial capacity. He afterward engaged with the Boston Globe in similar work, and his increasing ability brought him to the position of night city editor with the Boston Herald. He continued in that connection until 1891, when he became night manager of New England for the Associated Press. He thus remained until 1894, when, feeling that better opportunities might be secured upon the coast, owing to the rapid and substantial development of the west, he came to Cali- fornia and engaged in the real-estate and fire insurance business in Pasadena until 1898, when he again entered the field of journalism. He became connected with the Los Angeles Express in a reportorial capacity and as dramatic editor, remaining on the paper until 1901.
Mr. Stearns then came to Oakland and was business secretary of the Oakland Board of Trade, which in 1906 was reorganized as the Chamber of Commerce. He continued in that capacity until Feb-
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ruary, 1909, when he resigned. In November, 1912, he became secretary of the Down Town Association, an organization which was formed by property owners and merchants to upbuild and maintain the business left in the section of the city south of Twelfth street, and he is doing excellent work in this connection. His former newspaper service enables him to rapidly acquire an accurate knowledge of the situation and his business ability enables him to utilize the means at hand in the accomplishment of desired results.
On the 21st of October, 1900, Mr. Stearns was married in Los Angeles to Miss Gertrude A. Howard. He is a charter member of the New England Association of California and an honorary life member of the Elks lodge at Boston. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and his religious faith is that of the Unitarian church. He has never regretted his determination to come to the coast, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and, gradually working his way upward, stands today as a forceful factor in the improvement of business conditions in Oak- land.
JOHN FORREST.
A man who has by his own energy, ambition and enterprise, guided and controlled by sound and practical judgment, worked his way upward to a place among the representative men of Oakland is John Forrest, prominently connected with the municipal govern- ment as commissioner of revenue and finance and ex-officio member of the board of education. He was born in Ireland in 1858 and came to America in 1872, arriving in Oakland three years later. He has been dependent upon his own resources from an early age, beginning his active career in this city as a member of a construction gang on the old San Pablo cable road. Following this he was con- nected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company for many years as car repairer and inspector of air-brake equipment. He left the employ of the Southern Pacific and became identified with the gas company, serving for a number of years in various capacities. Under Governor Pardee's administration he secured the position of water front paver and was later appointed to the office of trench inspector in the city of Oakland, this position involving the duties of examin- ing and passing upon all trenches or openings in the city streets or elsewhere made by the various utility companies for water pipes,
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gas mains, telephone conduits and sewers. In this position Mr. Forrest did the careful, thorough and conscientious work which has come to be recognized as characteristic of him, bringing himself prominently before the public as a man upon whom public honor may safely rest. In view of his efficient and intelligent service in positions of trust and responsibility he was nominated a member of the Freeholders of Oakland, who framed the new charter, and served as chairman of the board during nearly all of its sessions.
Mr. Forrest enjoys the distinction of having been elected a mem- ber of the present city council and was assigned to the department of revenue and finance, his position carrying with it membership on the board of education. Mr. Forrest has supervision of one of the most important departments in the city government and is giving to the public a conservative and businesslike administration.
A feature worthy of the careful consideration of every resident of Oakland is the economy with which the office of revenue and finance has been conducted throughout Mr. Forrest's administration as commissioner of that department. It is equally interesting to know that ever since entering the employ of the city Mr. Forrest has had no other business affiliations and has received no salaries nor remuneration from any source other than his official salary. He has therefore devoted his undivided attention to the duties of his office and the success of his labors is evident to every person who has keenly observed the growth and ever increasing prestige of the city of Oakland. He has been a prominent labor man all his life for, having been a worker himself, he appreciates the needs and diffi- culties of all other workers, and has done much to further the cause of labor. He is at present the president of the Gas Workers' Union of Oakland, a position which he has filled for many years. He is well liked by all who know him because his success has made no change in his attitude toward his friends and the public has found him an unassuming, courteous and painstaking official.
FRANCIS MARION SMITH.
Without invidious distinction, for it is the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellow townsmen, Francis Marion Smith may be termed the foremost citizen of Oakland. Few there are, indeed, who would dissent from this opinion, and investigation into the history of this section shows how closely his name is interwoven with
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much that has promoted the material progress and developed the activities of Oakland and the state. His influence and reputation have extended far beyond even county and state lines, for the name of "Borax" Smith is known in every part of the civilized world. The history of Rome is practically written in the lives of a few men, and the history of any country is found in the biographies of its representative citizens. The history of Alameda county and particularly of Oakland, with its development and attending pros- perity, has its origin largely in the activities, enterprise and initi- ative of Francis Marion Smith. While upbuilding his individual fortunes he has ever been keenly interested in the upbuilding of the community. The plans which have brought him individual success have brought ever greater prosperity to the commonwealth. He has contributed liberally of his fortune, his time and his judg- ment to all matters relative to civic betterment and advancement and as the result of his sagacity, initiative and liberality Oakland has its modern traction and ferry-the Key Route system, which is acknowledged to be the best ferry system in the world. The Realty Syndicate, extensive, powerful and valuable, was of his conceiving and of it he is the president. Nearly all of the public utilities that have to do with water power, lumber, transportation and manufac- turing owe more to his co-operation than to that of any other man. He is a man of big heart and generous impulses, and his humani- trianism manifests itself in the practical way of assisting people to aid themselves.
To begin at the beginning, however, Francis Marion Smith was born in Richmond, Wisconsin, February 2, 1846, a son of Henry G. and Charlotte (Paul) Smith. His maternal ancestor, William Paul, came from England to America in 1637. Francis M. Smith attended the common schools of his native city and later Milton College, Wisconsin. On the completion of his school work he left his father's ranch and, answering to the irresistible call of the west, he made his way toward the Pacific, visiting Idaho, California and Nevada, spending considerable time in mining and other work in those states, being a resident of Nevada for five years. While there in 1872 he located the great borax deposits at Teals Marsh. He had been working under a contract with several ore mills near Co- lumbus, locating and getting out timber for the various mining camps, and while so engaged made his discovery and location of the valuable borax claim. Up to that time the world's supply of borax had been small and the finished product was selling at thirty-five cents per ounce. The Teals Marsh deposits soon became the world's
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principal source of supply and remained so for years. The activi- ties of Mr. Smith in developing the find and producing the finished product caused the hitherto almost prohibitive price to drop to but three or four cents per pound and brought borax to a wide com- mercial use in the world, as evidenced by the increase of the output from six hundred tons per annum to twenty-five thousand tons. Reading between the lines, one may learn the history of the devel- opment of a vast enterprise which has been of untold value in pro- moting the material progress of the sections in which he has ope- rated, while at the same time the work has placed Mr. Smith among the millionaires of California.
On the 23d of June, 1907, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn Ellis, and of this union four children have been born, May Evelyn, Charlotte Dorothy, Mildred Alberta and Francis M. Their beautiful home, Arbor Villa, is situated in East Oakland, and the family spend their summers at Shelter Island, New York. As previously suggested, Mr. Smith's activities have been of the utmost benefit to Oakland, not only in a material way, but along the lines of benevolence and humanitarianism. He has erected near his home fully equipped homes for worthy girls. He is a trustee of Mills College.
He established the Mary R. Smith Trust. Mary R. Smith, who was born in New York city, died on New Year's eve of 1905. Mr. Smith of this review had given her thirty acres of land, all in Oakland, for a Christmas present, and she converted this into the Mary R. Smith Trust and built several homes for friendless girls - nine cottages in all. This trust is governed by a board of trustees of women of the First Congregational church and the cottages were begun in 1901, one cottage having been built since the death of Mrs. Smith, who was the first wife of Francis M. Smith. His second wife has continued the activities along these lines and is now presi- dent of the cottage work, the board holding very closely to the plans of the founder. Any girl that is in need of a home and worthy of aid is admitted to the cottages and she is always allowed to stay as long as necessary. There are from five to eight in a cottage and the ages are from four to twenty-five years. There has only been one death on Cottage Hill since the work was undertaken and there have been five marriages there. All of the girls attend the public schools, several have been high-school graduates and one has been graduated from the university. Another has been a student in the San Francisco Art Institute and several attend the Normal School. The number includes nurses, stenographers and teachers. They
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make most of their own clothes and help with the housework and have a real home life, under the direction of a matron in each cot- tage. The cottages were named for children whom Mrs. Smith had adopted and cared for. This is but one of the many charities undertaken by Mr. Smith's first wife. His second wife is likewise active in philanthropic work and all has the indorsement and cooperation of Mr. Smith.
HOBSON & PAVERT.
The enterprising and progressive city of Oakland finds active and energetic representatives of its business interests in the gentlemen who compose the firm of Hobson & Pavert, contractors and builders. They have made their business a prominent factor in commercial growth and development and, constantly adhering to progressive methods, to high standards of integrity and to a policy of constructive expansion and progress, have aided in the physical growth of the city and in the spread of that general commercial activity which means advancement.
R. J. Pavert has been a resident of California since 1889. He was for six years with the large contracting firm of Clauson & Keating, of San Francisco, and he remained in that city until the spring of 1906, when he came to Oakland and started his building operations in Fruitvale in a very small way, his limited finances not allowing him to extend the field of his activities to any great degree. At first he built and sold small cottages, realizing from each a considerable profit, and, thus gaining a little capital, he moved into the heart of the city and purchased at the corner of Eleventh and Madison streets a lot costing seventy-five hundred dollars. Upon this he erected three apartment buildings which he sold for sixty-eight thousand dollars and then purchased a lot on the corner of Eleventh and Brush streets. He here repeated his original transaction, building three apartment houses and disposing of them for sixty-one thousand dollars. This deal completed he bought a lot seventy-five by one hundred feet on Twelfth street, near Madison, selling afterward half of this property for eighteen thousand five hundred dollars and building on the other half a fine business block which when completed brought twenty- eight thousand five hundred dollars on the market. Continuing his operations along this line, Mr. Pavert bought on the southwest corner of Twelfth and Jackson streets a seventy-five by one hundred
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foot lot, and the business block which he built upon this property sold for eighty-five thousand dollars. This brought a high price, owing to some very unique features, the lower floor having been made into four stores, each a corner store and each with two street front- ages. Mr. Pavert's next purchase was a lot on the corner of Thir- teenth and Harrison streets fifty by one hundred feet in dimensions, and this he afterward sold for sixty-five thousand dollars and bought almost immediately afterward a lot one hundred by one hundred feet in extent on the corner of Fifteenth and Jefferson streets. This is the site of the Savoy hotel, a fine modern, six-story structure, which is today worthy of rank with the best hostelries on the coast, and which was begun by Mr. Pavert and completed after he had associ- ated himself with Mr. Hobson.
After work on the hotel and two adjoining business blocks was started on the 6th of May, 1912, he formed a partnership with R. O). Hobson, a wealthy mining man and capitalist of Nevada, the business being reorganized under the name of Hobson & Pavert. Mr. Hob- son is a man of sound business judgment and his acumen and practical ideas have been of great aid to Mr. Pavert in the inauguration and completion of the important projects with which the firm was con- nected. The building of the Savoy hotel, completed by the firm of Hobson & Pavert, created a new business center in that section of Oakland, as is evidenced by the fact that the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of Los Angeles has loans of over a quarter of a million dollars for the erection of buildings in that part of the city in the near future. Soon after the partnership was formed Hobson & Pavert purchased the southwest corner of Sixteenth and Jefferson streets and a lot on the corner of Seventh, Broadway and Telegraph avenue, this being the most desirable office-building location in Oakland. They intend to erect in the near future an eleven-story modern structure upon this property and will also improve a fifty by one hundred foot lot on the north side of Fifteenth street and East Broadway, a property which they have recently purchased.
The total valuation of the property held by the firm, including the Savoy hotel and the surrounding buildings which were built for investment and large tracts of downtown real estate, is valued at five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Pavert has made a scien- tific study of land values and business locations, and the results of his thorough knowledge are seen in the success which has steadily attended all his operations. Hobson & Pavert have accomplished a great deal of constructive work along business lines in Oakland and are rightly regarded as among the important forces in the growth
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