The builders of a great city : San Francisco's representative men, the city, its history and commerce : pregnant facts regarding the growth of the leading branches of trade, industries and products of the state and coast, Part 15

Author:
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: San Francisco : The Journal
Number of Pages: 556


USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The builders of a great city : San Francisco's representative men, the city, its history and commerce : pregnant facts regarding the growth of the leading branches of trade, industries and products of the state and coast > Part 15


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For a number of years past Mr. Boone has been engaged in the practice of law exclusively, but he has recently resumed the soliciting of patents in connection with his law practice. His office is at present located at No. 137 Montgomery street, on the southwest corner of Bush and Montgomery streets.


Mr. Boone's family consists of his wife and four children, two boys and two girls, who bid fair to sustain and hand honorably down to a later gen- eration the historical name of their American ancestors.


FRED L. CASTLE.


ONE amongst our merchants has a more honored name than that of Fred L. Castle. He was born in the world's great Babylon, Lon- don, in 1828. His father was a stock broker in high standing in this great metropolis. He had three sons- Fred L., Goodman, and Michael; all brought up to mercantile career, and receiving the benefits of a lib- eral education in their native land. When very young Fred L. came to the United States. He also sought business opportunities in Canada. He arrived in San Francisco in 1850, and since then, nigh on to forty years, he has been a conspicuous figure in mercantile circles, though early in the fifties having sold out his interest to his brother he returned to Eng- land where he resided three years. Coming back he resumed his place in the firm. Goodman died in 1860. Michael sold his interest to Fred L. a few years subsequently. Mr. Cas- tle's life work has been devoted to the establishment of the present house, and the advancement of the interests of the grocery trade in San Francisco. In this he has been ably seconded of late years by his son, Walter M., whom he took into partnership with him in 1877, and who is one of San Francisco's ris- ing young merchants. Mr. Castle's other son, Eugene, a kindly, genial


young man, of more than ordinary promise, died in 1882, universally regretted by all who had the pleas- ure of his acquaintance. Fred L. Castle was one of the pioneers of our tea trade with the Orient, and has worked hard in its development for nearly forty years. Mr. Castle was married in 1855 to an accom- plished lady, and has an interesting family. He is President of a new hospital that is just being estab- lished and belongs to many organi- zations, principally of a benevolent character. A member of the Cham- ber of Commerce almost since its organization, he has always been foremost in the adoption of practical measures calculated to foster our trade, and to extend the field where it could be profitably established. He is unostentatiously charitable, is a uniformly courteous and obliging gentleman, and as a merchant takes position in the front ranks of those who have shed a luster on our com- mercial history by their character and standing. Although over forty years in business he is still to be found at his post as active and busy as when he first entered the honorable path- way that leads to mercantile success. It is by men, such as he, that the true foundation of the prosperity of states and cities is enduringly laid and unremittingly conserved.


CHARLES METAPHOR CHASE.


CONNECTED, as he has been, with the press and with several important public matters, and having experienced his share of the vicissitudes of fortune, the life of Charles M. Chase has, for a quiet citizen, been abundantly full of in- cident.


He is a native of Maryland, the New England of Catholicism, having been born at Baltimore. His pater- nal ancestry was English, and had been established in the Colonies for a couple of centuries, four brothers of the name, of whom Aquilla was one, having come to New England in the Seventeenth century.


During its long residence in Ame- rica a strain of French blood mingled with that of the family.


His mother's family came from Pennsylvania, being originally of Holland-Dutch ancestry.


He is thus in his own person fairly representative of three of the great races whose brain and brawn helped to create an empire in the wilderness on this side of the Atlantic.


From Aquilla Chase, previously mentioned, he is a lineal descendant. His father was a prosperous mer- chant of Baltimore, and had long been engaged in the Rio trade.


He received his education at St. Mary's College, Baltimore, one of the oldest educational institutions in the country, conducted by the Jesuit Fathers. Here he acquired the ele- ments of instruction necessary to fit him for a mercantile life.


He left college in 1848 and imme- diately entered the counting-house of a prosperous mercantile firm, heavily engaged in the West India trade. Deeming, however, that Cali- fornia afforded a better opportunity


for ambitious young men, he left New York May 25, 1852, for the shores of the Golden State. The " United States " carried him to Panama, and the " Winfield Scott" from Panama to this city, where he arrived June 25, 1852. He is thus an old-time Californian, and may well be termed a pioneer.


He has seen both city and State grow from infancy to adolescence. The former from a small town to the metropolis, with over 330,000 people ; the latter from a mining camp, to a prosperous agricultural and manu- facturing commonwealth.


Among the companions of his voy- age were George S. Mann, an old- time underwriter; S. G. Reed, the noted banker and steamship man of Portland, Or., and John Conness, afterwards United States Senator from California.


On arrival he proceeded imme- diately to Calaveras County and en- gaged for a time in mining, but with indifferent success. He soon re- turned to San Francisco, whence he proceeded to San Jose ; but it was not long before he found himself again in this city.


Like many other Californians, he was at this time anything but a fav- orite of Fortune. That fickle jade has, however, since abundantly re- warded him, as far, at least, as material wealth is concerned.


After many vicissitudes and anxi- eties, he at last found employment in the office of the County Surveyor, W. P. Humphreys, still his intimate and warm personal friend.


On leaving this he became inter- ested in the Commercial Advertiser, the successor of the Daily Whig. The Advertiser was purchased in the


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interest of David C. Broderick, to help to elect him as United States Senator. Mr. Chase was business manager of the Advertiser until such time as it successfully accomplished its object, when its publication ceased. He worked hard and enthu- siastically in the cause of Broderick, and he looks back upon the circum- stances connected therewith as form- ing one of the proudest episodes of his career.


On leaving the Advertiser he pur- chased a job printing office, in Octo- ber, 1854. It was located on the corner of Clay and Kearny streets, in the old California Exchange Building. Here, notwithstanding he was of age, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the printing business in all its branches, becoming a prac- tical printer in the true sense of the term.


In April, 1855, in conjunction with M. D. Boruck, he established the Fireman's Journal. In 1859, the partners purchased the Spirit of the Times, into which the other was merged. In 1870, Mr. Chase turned over his interest in the paper to Mr. Boruck. The Spirit of the Times is still in existence, successful, and under the management of Mr. Boruck.


In 1865, Mr. Chase associated himself with S. C. Bowley, under the firm name of Chase & Bowley, in the auction business. Their place in the Merchants' Exchange on Cali- fornia street will be well remembered by old Californians.


In 1871, he became a member of the firm of Killip & Co., engaged in the live stock and commission busi- ness.


He was married in 1856 to a de- voted wife, who died in March, 1890, and whose loss he has never ceased to mourn, she having been the com- panion of his joys and sorrows for thirty-four years. Her death has left a blank in his life which he feels can hardly be filled.


He was for eleven years a member of the old Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, and was Secretary for a num- ber of years of Monumental No. 6. He was for years a member of the Board of Delegates, S. F. F. D.


In 1874, in conjunction with H. R. Covey, J. R. Dickey and J. N. Killip, a company was formed, the Bay District Fair Grounds leased, the building erected and the track constructed. This enterprise cost in the neighborhood of $150,000, of which the gentlemen named contri- buted a fraction over $81,000.


The enterprise was quite success- ful, and has contributed much to the improvement of the breed of horses in California.


Mr. Chase has been a member of the State Board of Agriculture for eleven years, and has contributed not a little to the success of the State Fair and to the promotion of agri- culture, live stock raising, and the manufacturing interests of Califor- nia in general.


He was a member of the National Guard in Vigilance Committee times.


He was one of the original mem- bers of the State Board of Forestry, and did active service for several years.


He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, being attached to San Francisco Chapter No. 1, and Doric Lodge, No. 216, and on two different occasions has been elected Master of that Lodge.


He is still in active business life, a man of parts and enterprises. He has contributed much to the welfare of both city and State. A geutle- man of quiet manners, of vari d in- formation and extensive knowledge of the world, he is a very good rep- resentative of that class of San Franciscans who quietly and unob- trusively perform their parts in pro- moting the prosperity of the city and State.


JOHN M. CURTIS.


JOHN M. CURTIS.


ANY and varied are the grades of workers concerned in the building up of a common- wealth, or a city of metropolitan fame, such as is San Francisco. Some work with the hand, some with the brain, many with both together, but the labors of even the humblest could not be dis- pensed with, while a mart of commerce like San Francisco calls especially for the services of merchants, bankers, inauufacturers, and skilled artisans. It needs no less these invaluable ones rendered by the professional man, the divine, the physician, the jurist, and though last, not least, the architect. In fact, the measure of the advance in civilization of every community is found in the comfort and artistic beauty of its homes, its streets, and public buildings. The architect is par excellence a city "builder," and the noble profession of which he is a member is called upon, not only to supply the elements of solidity, but those of strength and beauty to the edifice in which we dwell, or which we need for purpose of trade, manufact- ures, worship, jurisprudence, or the other many and varied callings needed in our modern civilization. Besides the indispensable elements of style and beauty in the construction of edifices, he is also called upon to take measures for the conservation of the health and comfort of the citizen in the matters of ventilation, heating, and drainage. According as he is proficient in his chosen profession are these things well or illy done. The profession is well represented in San Francisco. Like the city itself, it is catholic and cosmopolitan, as its followers come from every school and hail from every land. The result is seen in a pleasing


variety of styles which yet combine to form a harmonious whole. During the past few years a new era has arisen in metropolitan architecture, Many elegant and costly buildings have already been constructed, and during the next few years it is hardly too much to assume that the ugly gaps between will be occupied with struct- ures fittingly representing our wealth and business enterprise. To no one of the many estimable gentlemen who fill the ranks of the profession of arch- itecture can a higher place be assigned than that which must be given to John M. Curtis. Coming from an old Southern family that settled gen- erations ago in Virginia, from thence to Kentucky, he was born in War- saw, Ill., in 1852. While still very young his parents removed to


Lexington, Mo., from thence to St. Louis, Mo. Here he received his education in the public schools and polytechnic institute. Leaving school while still a mere lad, he learned the trade of carpentering with Bent & Garrity of that city. But his natural tastes and inclinations soared above the mere mechanical details of his trade, and entering the office of Mitchel & Brady, well-known archi- tects, he mastered the profession in which he has since obtained distine- tion. Coming to San Francisco in 1874, he was employed by various local firms of architecture in the four following years, but during the past twelve years he has been in business for himself and has been very success- ful, his name and work being well and favorably known, not only in San Francisco, but in many interior coun- ties as well. He has given much at- tention to the construction of public


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buildings, having been the successful competitor for the designing of the Court Houses at Eureka, Humboldt County, and Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, the County Jail and offices at Santa Cruz, and the Hall of Records and County Jail at Santa Rosa, now in the course of erection. The Ma- sonie Halls at Paso Robles and Suisun, Redding and Colusa, the Odd Fellows' Hall at Santa Rosa, the Mutual Re- lief Building, Petaluma, and the Red Men's Hall in this city were built by him. The County Jails and buildings designed by him are of incombustible materials. The jails being of iron and steel throughout, enelosed with briek and granite, are the very best in the State. Mr. Curtis was paid the highest premium for the competitive design for the Academy of Science Building, now being erected on Market street. He was the assistant architect of the Baldwin Hotel and Theater. Private residences innumerable have been his work, among which may be mentioned Dr. James Simpson's on Sutter street near Van Ness; A. W. Wilson's, corner Scott and Fulton; W. T. Coleman's, corner Taylor and Wash- ington; the Coleman villa, San Ra- fael, and the Younts residence at Napa.


The immense Kohler & Frohling wine cellars, corner Second and Fol- som streets, were Mr. Curtis' design for Messrs. Boyd & Davis. This building cost over $200,000, and has a storage capacity of 3,000,000 gallons of wine. The Wells, Fargo & Co's Building adjoining cn Folsom


street, the largest stable the company has in the West, now approaching completion, was also designed by him. He designed the Omnibus Cable Com- pany's Building, corner Tenth and Howard streets, costing $200,000.


The above are a portion of the many works which have made his life a useful and busy one. He is a mem- ber of the San Francisco Chapter of American Institute of Architects, Treasurer of Pacific Coast Association of Architects. Although he is one of the most active and busy men in the city, his genial nature and benevolent heart has drawn him to our leading fraternal societies. He is a member of Mission Lodge No. 269, F. and A. M .; California Chapter No. 5, Cali- fornia Council, No. 2, California Commandery No 1, and Islam Tem- ple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In the I. O. O. F., he holds member- ships: Fidelity No. 222, Oriental En- campment No. 57, Uniform Degree No. 5, and Templar Rebecca Degree. As fitting adjunets, he holds member- ship in San Francisco Group Good Samaritans, No, 1; Ivy Chapter, Or- der Eastern Star.


Mr. Curtis was married in 1887 to Miss Isabel H, Muir, a native of Georgetown, El Dorado County, Cali- fornia. He has a fine home on Web- ster street near Jackson, is yet a young man with an active, busy future be- fore him. Of genial, pleasant manners, he has hosts of friends, while his abil- ity gives him the respect of all who know him.


PETER DEAN.


PETER DEAN.


HERE are few '49ers better or more widely known, or who have done more to advance the best interests of the State and people, than Peter Dean. California is as justly proud of her pioneers as are the pioneers of the State, whose resources they have assisted in developing, and whose fame, as a land unequaled in climate and products, has gone abroad throughout the world, and is bring- ing thousands of visitors and resi- dents from all nations to recuperate and enjoy for a season the advantages it offers, or to dwell in and cultivate its valleys.


By birth Mr. Dean is an English- man, having been born in Clith- eroe, Lancashire County, Eng., on Christmas Day, 1828. His father, Benjamin Dean, however, emigrated to America in 1829, settling in New England while Peter was but a baby, so that he may rightly claim to be an American.


He received a sound education in the schools of New England, and had decided (in 1848) to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother, Ben- jamin, and adopt the law as a profes- sion. Being naturally both adven- turous and ambitious, the reports which were beginning to circulate con- cerning the wondrous wealth to be obtained in the gold fields of Cali- fornia took hold upon his imagina- tion, and he determined to renounce the law and test his powers for suc- cess in the new El Dorado. He left Providence on the 9th of March, 1849, and sailed from New York in the brig "General Hitchcock," on the 12th of the same month, for Chagres. The difficulties of cross- ing the Isthmus in those days were very great, and Mr. Dean had to


undergo his full share of hardships, After a delay of forty-two days he sailed on the "Oregon" for San Fran- cisco, where he landed on the 13th of June, 1849.


From that time up to the present Mr. Dean has identified himself with many of the prominent public and private enterprises of the State, to give a detailed account of which would occupy a volume of them- selves. His first venture was in the mines where, considering the neces- sity for a means of crossing the Tu- olumne River, he started a ferry at the mouth of Wood's Creek, the first means of conveyance being a dug-out constructed by himself and companions. This gave way to a row- boat, which in its turn was succeed- ed by a scow and cable. The ferry was a success financially, and gave rise to a law suit in which the Dean ferry had the public sympathy. In 1851, Dean and O'Donnell, who were partners, disposed of the ferry busi- ness and Mr. Dean came to San Francisco, where, in company with Samuel Jackson of pioneer lumber fame, a speculative trip to Oregon was arranged, and in October, 1851, they started in a schooner for the Columbia River, which they reached after a rough and tedious trip. At Portland the vessel's hold was partly filled with lumber, the deck loaded with such staples as wheat, potatoes, pigs, etc., and the return voyage to San Francisco began. It proved disastrous from the start. They were delayed for twelve days on a sand- bar, and after getting to sea met with such heavy weather that the schoon- er was completely dismantled and they were obliged to drift at the will of the waves which took them to


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the north of Vancouver Island where they managed to enter one of the nu- merous estuaries of that section. A somewhat singular coincidence is the fact that the water-way was known as Dean Inlet. By this time the provisions had been carried away or consumed, and for forty days, while they were repairing the schoon- er, they subsisted chiefly on mussels. They had been relying somewhat on the friendly relations they had es- tablished with the Indians for aid in their efforts to get away. This hope was rudely dispelled one night, when they were robbed by their supposed friends of their clothing and other necessaries. With a fav- orable change of the wind to the northwest, soon after this event, they managed to put to sea carrying, as food, a large supply of mussels, and after an adventurous voyage managed to reach Puget Sound. Arriving at Fort Steilacoom, they left the schooner, and proceeded in canoes to Olympia, thence by horse to French Camp on Cowlitz River, when they again canoed it to the Columbia River, where they obtain- ed passage on the steamer "Colum- bia" for San Francisco, which they finally reached after an absence of six months.


Mr. Deau's next venture was with his former partner, O'Donnell, whom he met immediately upon his arrival in San Francisco. They started together for the mines, and after working for a while, a partner- ship was formed with Mr. Dean's brother, John, and a store on Curtis Creek, Tuolumne County, purchased. On Mr. O'Donnell's death, two years later, the business was disposed of, and for a time Mr. Dean located in Mariposa with Mr. O'Donnell's brother selling out his interest in 1854, and going to Los Angeles. He was engaged for some years in the cattle business, both as a raiser and trader, in company with Alexander Godey.


In 1859, after ten years of a won-


derfully varied experience, crowded to the full with adventure by land and sea, he returned on a visit to his early home in the East. While there he managed to satisfy his love of the exciting and hazardous by making a baloon voyage in company with Messrs. Helm and Hill, which, after seven hours in the atmosphere, landed them in the top of a tree growing on an island in a New Hampshire lake.


Returing to California in 1861, he was married during the same year to Miss Isabella Armstrong of Visalia.


In 1864 he engaged again in the cattle business with B. F. Channel as a partner. Their adventures while driving a herd of cattle from Eureka, Humboldt Bay, to Boise Valley, Idaho, would form the basis for a sensational novel. Mr. Channel had a close call for his scalp from a party of Indians and two of their men were killed by the redskins. They lost their water supply by the breakage of the wagon carrying it. Their cattle got scattered, and alto- gether they had a hard time to get through.


On his arrival in Idaho, Mr. Dean decided to remain there which he did until 1869, during which time he was engaged in enterprises which involved mining and cattle raising, together with the handling of pro- duce. The result of his labors was generally successful. He removed to Puget Sound, made a number of in- vestments in real estate in Seattle and neighborhood and returned to San Francisco. After a short stay in this city he made another trip East, investing in real estate on the way at Kansas City and Duluth. The field of his early efforts still held its charm, however, and in 1872 he returned to the city which he has seen grow up on the sand dunes and hills of Yerba Buena to its present status as one of the great commercial cities of the world.


Mr. Dean has continuously received


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recognition from his contemporaries and associates as a man of more than ordinary ability and force of character. As a life member of the Society of Pioneers, he has acted in the capacity of Director, Vice-Presi- dent and President, and it was dur- ing his incum bency as President that the final deed from James Lick for the Fourth-street property, where the Pioneer Building now stands, was obtained.


In 1877 he was elected to a seat in the Senatorial branch of the gen- eral assembly, and was earnest in his devotion to educational matters. He also urged the question of govern- mental control of at least one trans- continental railroad. He was active and outspoken in his efforts to rid


white labor of the incombus of the Chinese, and his arguments carried great weight with the legislators of the country.


His capability as a financier caused him to be appointed as a Director in winding up the affairs of the National Bank and Trust Company. When the Masonic Bank was forced to sus- pend, he accepted the Presidency, so managing the affairs of the insti- tution, as to give general satisfaction, and the same may be said of the Merchants' Exchange Bank.


At present Mr. Dean is President of the Sierra Lumber Company, one of the most extensive concerns of the country, employing a great number of hands and serving to develop the best interests of the State.


COL. E. A. DENICKE.


1


ERNST A. DENICKE.


MONG no class of our foreign population is to be found so large a percentage of thrifty, prosperous and reliable citizens as in the ranks of the German-Americans. While almost invariably cherishing a reverential love for the Fatherland, the strongest allegiance of their naturally patriotic natures is given unconditionally to the free Republic, the land of their adoption. A splen- did example of this admirable citi- zenship is found in the well-known gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Ernst A. Denicke was born in Hanover, Ger- many, on the 13th day of July, 1840, and came with his parents to Ameri- ca in 1849. He was educated in New York city, but on April 21, 1861, when not yet twenty-one years of age, he responded to the first call for troops and enlisted in the Tenth New York Regiment Infantry Volun- teers. In August of the same year for gallant conduct on the battlefield of Big Bethel, Mr. Denicke was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company E, Sixty-eighth New York Infantry, and afterward promoted suc- cessively to the rank of First Lieuten- ant and Captain of Company E. In March, 1863, he accepted a first lieu- tenancy in the Signal Corps, U. S. A.




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