USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 41
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ANSON S. BLAKE.
Anson S. Blake is actively identified with a number of the busi- ness concerns of Oakland and is doing much to aid in the develop- ment of the city. The most of his life has been devoted to contract- ing and he has done a great deal of municipal and street work, giving invariably satisfactory service. He was born in San Francisco in 1870, his parents being Charles T. and Harriet Waters (Stiles) Blake, natives of New Haven, Connecticut, and of Massachusetts respectively. In 1849 the father came to California by way of Nica- ragua and was for many years engaged in mining in this state, Nevada and Idaho, part of the time in the employ of others and part
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of the time for himself. He had a large number of interesting stories of the rough life of the mining camps of that period and always enjoyed recalling those early days when the state was in the making. In 1872 he came to Oakland and became a partner in the Oakland Paving Company, with which concern he continued until his death, in 1897, at which time he was its president. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, but he never took an active part in politics, while fraternally he was a Mason. His widow is still living and resides in Berkeley.
Anson S. Blake was graduated from the public and high schools of San Francisco and from the University of California, receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree from the latter institution in 1891. He immediately entered into business relations with his father as sec- retary of the Bay Rock Company, remaining with that concern until its dissolution in 1894. At that time he became interested in the Oakland Paving Company, with which his father was also associated, and he rose rapidly, becoming president of the organization in 1909. He continued to hold that responsible position until 1914, when he disposed of his interest in the company to F. W. Bilger, a well known resident of Oakland. Ten years previously, in 1904, Mr. Blake with his brother, Edwin T., and F. W. Bilger organized the firm of Blake & Bilger, of which the subject of this review was the president. In 1914 Mr. Bilger retired from that firm, which is now known as Blake Brothers Company. They are general contractors and have done much important work in their line, including a great deal of street paving. The brothers have an expert knowledge of the various materials that can be used and of the conditions under which each will give the most satisfactory service. This knowledge, com- bined with their practical methods of construction and their relia- bility, has won for them a high reputation as contractors and they have a very extensive and lucrative patronage. Mr. Blake's connec- tions with the various companies mentioned above do not exhaust his business activities, however, as he is president of the San Francisco Quarries Company, which operates large quarries in Richmond and in Marin county, and he is also a director in the Central National Bank and the Central Savings Bank of Oakland.
Mr. Blake was married in San Francisco, May 17, 1894, to Miss Anita D. Symmes, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Svmmes. Her father is one of the well known business men of San Francisco and is receiver for the California Safe Deposit Company.
Mr. Blake is a republican but has never taken an active inter- est in politics. He is a member of several clubs of the Bay cities,
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belonging to the Claremont Country Club, the University Club of San Francisco, Athenian Club and the Commercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce of Oakland. He has resided on the shores of San Francisco bay during his entire life and is enthusiastic concern- ing the delightful conditions of life and the splendid opportunities to be found in this section of the state.
CHARLES E. SNOOK.
Charles E. Snook, successfully engaged in the practice of law in Oakland as a member of the firm of Snook & Church, is a native of California, born in San Francisco, February 19, 1863. He is a son of William S. and Susan Helen (Louchran) Snook and is a member of an old American family, his paternal ancestors having arrived in this country from England in 1812, becoming residents of New York State. The maternal branch, which was of Irish origin, settled in Vermont in early times.
Charles E. Snook acquired his early education in the public schools of Oakland and afterward attended the Oakland high school, from which he was graduated in 1879. After he had laid aside his books he entered the employ of Goldberg, Bowen & Company and when he resigned this connection began the study of law under Judge S. P. Hall, of the appellate bench. Mr. Snook was admitted to the bar of California on the ist of February, 1886, and opened an office on Sansome street, in San Francisco, with the firm of Lowenthal & Sutter. After one year he formed a partnership with Mr. Sutter under the name of Sutter & Snook. He was elected justice of the peace of Oakland in 1888 and after serving four years was made dis- trict attorney of Alameda county, assuming office in January, 1893, and serving with credit and ability for six years thereafter. In 1899 he formed a partnership with L. S. Church under the firm name of Snook & Church and this is his present professional connection. Mr. Snook handles all of the civil cases and is an able practitioner of civil law, his success being indicated by a large and representative clientage. He is a director of the Security Bank & Trust Company of Oakland and a man of recognized honesty and ability.
In 1889 Mr. Snook was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Wade and they have become the parents of three children, Charles W., Preston E. and Helen J. Mr. Snook gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in addition to the offices before men-
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tioned served for ten months as a member of the board of regents of the University of California and also as secretary of the state central committee under Governor Pardee. He is a member of the Athenian and Nile Clubs and well known in social circles of Oakland. His attention is, however, largely given to his profession, in which he has made rapid advancement, standing today among its most successful representatives in this part of the state.
STANLEY MOORE.
The bar of California numbers among its representatives many able, far-sighted and discriminating men who have won places of distinction and prominence in their profession, and this work is destined to form a part of the legal history of the state. Among their number is Stanley Moore, a member of the firm of Moore & Moore and one of the most distinguished representatives of the younger generation of lawyers in California.
He was born in Oakland, June 9, 1880, and is a son of Albert A. and Jaqueline (Hall) Moore, the former of Scotch-Irish and the latter of English origin. The family is of old American establish- ment, both the maternal and paternal ancestors having fought in the American Revolution. From both sides Mr. Moore inherits also his legal ability. His paternal grandmother was a sister of the late Hon. H. R. S. O'Melveny, of Los Angeles, a noted member of the California bar, and his mother was a sister of the Hon. Samuel P. Hall, district attorney of Alameda county and subsequently superior judge of the same county. His father's family were among the pio- neers in Monroe county, Illinois, having settled in Waterloo in 1778, when the county was a part of the state of Virginia. A. A. Moore, father of our subject, was born there. He came with his parents in 1865 to Alameda county, California, and has since established a repu- tation as one of the ablest lawyers in the state.
Stanley Moore was reared in Oakland, acquiring his preliminary education in the grammar schools of the state. In 1894 he entered the Oakland high school and after one year became a student in Boone's Academy at Berkeley, from which he was graduated in 1897 He then enrolled in the University of California, receiving the de- gree of B. A. from that institution in 1901. Afterward he studied law in his father's office and in December of the same year was admitted to the bar of California. Two years later he became deputy district
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attorney of Alameda county, resigning that position in the following year and removing to San Francisco, where he entered his father's office. On the ist of January, 1911, he was made a member of the firm of Moore & Moore. This is one of the leading law firms of the state and it controls a large and representative clientage connecting it with some of the most important cases tried in the California courts. Like his father Stanley Moore is a resourceful, keen and able practitioner, well versed in underlying legal principles and dis- playing great insight and discrimination in his application of them.
Stanley Moore is a member ofthe Claremont Country Club of Oakland and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is a young man of capacity, enterprise and ambition, qualities which will undoubtedly carry him forward into still more important professional relations.
ANDREW J. NOR.
Andrew J. Nor has been actively engaged in the grocery business in Oakland longer than any other man and the many years which he has conducted his store have brought him increased patronage and the absolute confidence of his customers. His birth occurred in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, March 21, 1855, and his father was J. H. Nor, who never followed any occupation but the dairy business, which he found very profitable and congenial.
The subject of this review was educated in the public schools of his native land, and as they rank among the best in the world, his schooling was a thorough and liberal one. At the age of seventeen he came to America, making his way directly to Livingston county, Illinois, where for one year he was employed as a farm hand. In the fall of 1873 he came west to California and located in the San Joaquin valley. In the spring of 1875 he came to Oakland and in 1877 took out his naturalization papers as he had decided to defi- nitely cast in his lot with this country. In 1878 he embarked in the retail grocery business on West Seventh street in connection with a Mr. Eiben, the firm name being Eiben & Nor. Although the store has been twice moved he has never left West Seventh street and has been in business on that thoroughfare for the past thirty-six years. He has followed the policy of absolute integrity and his willingness to rectify any errors and to live up to the letter of all agreements have won him customers who patronize him from year to year.
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Mr. Nor was married in Oakland, November 27, 1881, to Miss Annie Miller, a native of Ohio, who came to California as a young woman. They have two daughters : Emily L., who is studying art in Berkeley; and Frieda C., a graduate of the Oakland high school and an accomplished pianist.
Mr. Nor is a republican in his political views, but has never cared to actively enter the political arena. He belongs to Alcatraz Lodge, No. 244, A. F. & A. M., and to Alcatraz Chapter, R. A. M. He also holds membership in University Lodge of Odd Fellows and in the Knights of Pythias. For thirty-nine years he has resided in Oak- land and in that time has seen it develop from a comparatively small community to a thriving modern city, and the change brings him all the more pleasure because he has done more than his share in devel- oping its business. He is reaping the reward of his many years of honorable activity in the respect with which he is uniformly regarded by all who know him.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BERKELEY AND BERKELEY BANK OF SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY.
The growth of the First National Bank of Berkeley and the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company, which are prac- tically under the same management, has been a most remarkable one, their combined resources today exceeding eight million dollars. The total accounts in both banks are over seventeen thousand, which averages one account for every three inhabitants in Berkeley. The First National Bank is today one of the largest in Alameda county and is making mighty strides toward overcoming its competitors. It grew out of The Commercial Bank, which in 1892 was converted into the First National Bank and the Berkeley Bank of Savings. The trust department was established in 1906. A. W. Naylor, the pres- ent president of both institutions, was the first cashier when the now extensive banking business was started in a small way at a time when the population of Berkeley did not exceed ten thousand. Under his wise and able management both banks have grown to their present proportions and importance. More extended mention of the career of Addison Wood Naylor will be found in another part of this work. It is largely due to him and to his progressive policies that the banks have become what they are today in the commercial and
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financial life of the city and state, and the policy of the banks has ever been such as to better and improve the conditions of the city. For many years previous to com- ing to California, Mr. Naylor was engaged in the banking busi- ness. In 1873 he started a private bank in New Sharon, Iowa, the cashier of which was Anna M. King, the first woman to become a cashier of a bank in the United States. Three years later Mr. Naylor sold out his interests and in 1878 went to Des Moines, Iowa, where he organized the Capitol City State Bank, of which he served as presi- dent for about ten years. Coming to California in 1888, he lived for a few years in San Diego and San Jose, and in 1892 came to Berkeley, organizing what was then The Commercial Bank. He is at present president of the First National Bank of Berkeley and of the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company, as well as president of the South Berkeley Bank. Frank L. Naylor, his son, is vice president of the two banks first named. For two years he was connected with the Central Bank of Oakland, but in 1895 became associated with his father's institution in Berkeley. He served as cashier for a number of years and in 1910 was elected vice president of both institutions, Frank C. Mortimer then becoming cashier.
The First National Bank of Berkeley and the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company occupy one of the most handsome structures in the city of Berkeley, unexcelled for its equipment and banking facilities. The First National is devoted to all branches of modern banking, while the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company transacts the business of a savings bank and also handles trust business, taking safe and confidential care of the securities of its patrons. Situated in one banking room, each department is con- veniently accessible to all the others and, directed and managed by the same men, these departments cooperate harmoniously. The bank maintains an information bureau, where are kept on file stock lists, directories and other sources of commercial information. Customers and the general public are welcome to the use of this department. There is also a customers' room, comfortably furnished and provided with all conveniences to transact business. A committee room is ever at the disposition of any of the corporations doing business with the bank. A novel departure is a ladies' reception room, handsomely furnished, where ladies, whether depositors or not, are always wel- come in order to rest or write or telephone or prepare checks and deposit slips. The bank library is filled with a variety of financial literature and numerous reference books are kept there on file, while the directors' room is substantially appointed and so arranged as to
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furnish the greatest convenience. The officers' quarters are easily accessible to all customers of the bank. The loan department is care- fully handled, yet the progressive policy of the institution is ever visible in extending the desired help to worthy enterprises based upon strict business prinicples. There is also a bond and travelers' department as well as an exchange and collection department. A quick system of paying and receiving has been instituted and the han- dling of private accounts is so directed that it is not necessary to leave bank books but statements are sent from the institution. The savings department is particularly carefully guarded. Interest is paid, semi-annually computed and, as savings accounts in the state are exempt from taxation, a fair return for the money is assured to the depositors. In the trust department the bank acts as executor of wills, trustee of estates, guardian and as confidential fiscal agent. No charge is made for drawing a will where the corporation is appointed executor or co-executor. There are special consultation rooms where interviews may be carried on in privacy if desired, and the advice and counsel of the officers of the bank is ever at the disposal of the clients. The safe deposit department and storage vaults of the insti- tution deserve especial mention, as they are constructed in accord- ance with the latest ideas. The heavy steel doors, with their intricate mechanism, electrical devices and time locks, form an absolute bar- rier against successful entrance, except by authorized persons. They are altogether impregnable against destruction by fire or attack by thieves. The storage vaults are largely used for storing of family silverware or other household valuables, curios, paintings and such other things as it is the part of wisdom to store in an absolutely safe place.
The present officers of the First National Bank of Berkeley, Cali- fornia, are: A. W. Naylor, president; F. L. Naylor, vice president ; William E. Woolsey, vice president; Frank C. Mortimer, cashier; W. F. Morrish, assistant cashier; G. T. Douglas, assistant cashier ; and G. L. Pape, assistant cashier. For the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company the following officers serve: A. W. Naylor, president; F. L. Naylor, vice president; William E. Woolsey, vice president ; W. S. Wood, cashier and trust officer ; J. S. Mills, assistant ca hier. The directors of both institutions are men well known for their prominence in the commercial and financial life of the state. They are William H. Crocker, C. M. Gayley, J. W. Havens, James R. Little, W. H. Marston, A. W. Naylor, F. L. Naylor, W. R. Scott and William E. Woolsey. To give a more accurate idea of the extra- ordinary growth of the two banks, we conclude with a statement of
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the combined resources of the First National Bank and the Berkeley Bank of Savings and Trust Company, as follows: 1892-$100,000.00; 1895-$500,000.00; 1900-$1,025,000.00; 1905-$3,050,000.00; 1910 -$6,050,000.00; 1912-$7,350,000.00, while in 1913 the combined strength of the two banks exceeds eight million. For a number of years the First National Bank of Berkeley has acted as United States, state, city and postal savings depository.
JAMES P. EDOFF.
James P. Edoff, one of the most prominent and progressive citi- zens of Oakland and one whose labors have been effective forces in the city's development, was born in Laporte, Indiana, on the Ist of January, 1856, a son of Louis and Sarah Edoff, who became resi- dents of New York city in 1857. The father was a captain in the Union army during the Civil war and was killed in battle before Richmond.
It was during his infancy that James P. Edoff was taken by his parents to New York city, where he acquired his early education, and later he attended the public schools of Oakland, the family hav- ing come to this city when he was fourteen years of age. For one year he was a student at Brayton's Academy and at the end of that time went to Elko, Nevada, where he began his business career as a clerk with the Diamond R Mercantile Company. He gradu- ally gained influence with the company and soon was in charge of their entire transportation of ores and machinery and the general operation of mines at that point. At the age of twenty he became a partner in the concern and continued his connection with it until 1883, when he sold his interests and returned to Oakland. He then embarked in business in San Francisco, carrying on operations there until 1898. He became quite extensively interested in realty and in mercantile concerns and also became prominent in local industrial circles, promoting the interests of the city while advancing his own private affairs.
Selling out in 1898, Mr. Edoff retired from active business, but in 1906 took a very prominent part in the relief work organized the day after the great earthquake and fire, continuing to aid for a year and a half in the housing, feeding and support of those left penniless by the disaster. He handled all the relief funds collected in this locality. It was during this time that he was appointed receiver of
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the California Bank of Oakland, which had closed its doors, and he still continues to act in that capacity, his wise management, discrim- ination and business ability having placed the affairs of the institu- tion in an excellent condition, the creditors receiving their claims almost in full. Mr. Edoff is interested in the new Hotel Oakland and in 1909 contributed substantially to the building of that magnifi- cent structure, which has done so much to beautify the city. He had the financial management during its erection.
Mr. Edoff was married in Oakland to Miss Florence Jones and they have three children: Frank J., a prominent young business man of Oakland; Florence, the wife of George P. Baldwin; and Aileen.
Politically Mr. Edoff gives his allegiance to the republican party and although not an office seeker he was appointed and did most creditable work as chairman of the board of park commissioners from May, 1909, to 1911, and he worked untiringly to make of Oak- land a city beautiful. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also be- longs to the Athenian and Country Clubs and takes an active and helpful part in the work of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. He is regarded as one of the leading business men of the city and has done much to promote its interests.
WILLIAM W. GARTHWAITE.
For forty-two years William W. Garthwaite has been identified with the Oakland Bank of Savings, advancing from a humble capacity through intermediate positions to the presidency of the in- stitution, which is now the oldest and largest bank in Alameda county. There have been no esoteric phases in his entire business career. He has ever stood for progress and improvement and along legitimate lines has sought advancement. His work has ever constituted a valuable factor in business progress in the community in which he has made his home, and he rightfully deserves mention with that class who have been the upbuilders of the Bay cities.
A native of New York, Mr. Garthwaite was born in 1852 and in early childhood was brought to California by his parents, who made the trip to the Pacific coast by way of the Panama route in 1856. The family home was established in San Francisco and there Wil- liam W. Garthwaite attended the public schools. His further train-
WILLIAM W. GARTHWAITE
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ing has been that acquired in the school of experience. He has never feared to venture where favoring opportunity has led the way and his ability and even paced energy have brought him into prominent relations with the financial affairs of central California. His initial step in the business world was made under the direction of A. J. Ralston with the Pacific Fire Insurance Company. This was one of the first companies operating in San Francisco and was organized by some of the early financiers of that city. It was they who later organized the Bank of California and who were well known in busi- ness and financial circles as "the old Comstock crowd." Mr. Garth- waite severed his business connections with San Francisco in 1872, when he removed to Oakland, becoming note clerk in the Oakland Bank of Savings. This bank had been organized with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in 1867 and in 1871 the capital was increased to one million dollars. Something of the growth of the institution is indicated in the fact that on its organization a small building at Broadway and Ninth street was sufficient to accom- modate the bank and its business, while in 1872 but four people were employed therein. Its growth has been steady and substantial, how- ever, and today the Oakland Bank of Savings is not only the oldest but is also the largest Bank in Alameda county. Its capital has been several times increased and the business handled now reaches a very extensive figure. Mr. Garthwaite has advanced with its growth, serving consecutively as note clerk, cashier, vice president and man- ager before being elected to the presidency in 1909. For an extended period he has bent his energies to administrative direction and execu- tive control and his well formulated plans have constituted the basis of much of the success of the institution.
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