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 18

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 18


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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37


Mr. Easton is essentially a Califor- nian, and a typical one at that, for when only six years old, in 1854, his parents brought him to San Fran- cisco, which has ever since been his home. He is therefore a true Cali- fornia boy, as those to the manor born. He received a good solid edu- cation in our public schools, passing through all the grades, including those of the High School. All were finished in 1863, when only sixteen years of age. This of itself be- speaks a wonderful development of talent in one so young, and a devel- opment infrequently found outside of California. His inclinations led him to the real estate business, and he sought a position in a real estate office, that of Hoogs & Madison, now Madison & Burke, and on re- turning home at night surprised his family by the announcement, " Oh, I've been working in the biggest real estate office in the city." And here he remained, advancing from year to year, from office boy to chief clerk, working his way through all the in- termediate graduations. He learned everything thoroughly, and his pre- cise and orderly business methods added to his tact, foresight, and shrewdness soon made him an ac- knowledged power in that office. Such business powers could not re- main unnoticed. Mr. Easton was the subject of many brilliant offers, one of which he accepted was the position of Secretary to the Crown Point Mining Company. Here he handled annually millions of money, and was in receipt of a large salary. More than that, he had the entire confidence of his employers. Not- withstanding all this he found the position uncongenial. Not on ac-


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connt of the absence of pleasant surroundings, nor of appreciative friends, but his heart was in the real estate business and he felt it a necessity to return to it. This he did on his own account, starting at No. 32 Montgomery street, in 1875. His success was one rarely achieved. His old friends stood by him, and in six months his reputation was that of being one of the most brilliant opera- tors in San Francisco. In 1881, he formed a co-partnership with the late Mr. J. O. Eldridge. This co- partnership lasted five years until, in 1886, death dissolved it. Since that time, though conducting the business under the old style and title, it has under his sole manage- ment so flourished that it reached colossal proportions, necessitating its removal to 618 Market Street, oppo- site the Palace Hotel. Here the premises extended through from Market to Post, and made one of the largest devoted to realty in the world. Owing to the reconstruction of the premises the business has been removed to 638 Market. Mr. Easton, after learning all that was possible of the old style of doing business in real estate, devised several new feat- ures of his own which have been re- remarkably successful, and are in the interest of both buyer and seller.


There is no doubt that the import- ance of the business in San Fran- cisco and throughout the entire State has thus been greatly enhanced. He is pre-eminent in the auction busi- ness. There is no important place in the State that he has not visited and in which he has not made sales. For the past few years his pleasant face and active form have been fami- liar in most of our leading centers of population. His friends and busi- ness admirers are known by the thousand all over the State. The house of which he is the head, has not less than fifty branch establish- ments throughout California. Con- cluding that the advance of the coun-


try meant the advance of the city, he has devoted a great deal of attention to the sale of country lands, with the happiest possible results as the energy thus expended has, amongst other things, been promotive of con- siderable accessions to the popula- tion and wealth of the State. His career in connection with realty in San Francisco is well known, and therefore need not be dwelt upon at any particular length. One of the bright ideas originated by him was the formation of a title insurance company, which insures quiet pos- session to the owners of good titles and defends them when assailed. Mr. Easton is a firm believer in the efficacy of printers' ink, and his house has spent all the way from $50,000 to $150,000 per year in ad- vertising, from all of which he says they have received an adequate re- turn. Intelligence and activity are the leading features of his character. He has a pleasing address and is an agreeable conversationalist, full of wit and ready at repartee. He takes in public affairs the interest that every good citizen should feel, and possesses a well-deserved influence with both parties that divide up the commonwealth. He has twice de- clined the nomination to the position of State Senator. His reputation as a real estate operator has only in- creased with years. He may be said to be a perfect encyclopædia of val- uable information in regard to the climate, soil, productions and possi- bilities of all parts of the coast. He was married a few years ago to Carrie Whitney, daughter of George O. Whitney, an old-time Californian. He is now in the very prime of vigor- ous manhood and has still a long and useful business life before him. He is emphatically a self-made man. His career is a good example for California youths to pattern by when they seek success in the business world. It is no abuse of the phrase to class him as one of "The Build- ers of a Great City."


JOSEPH F. FORDERER.


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JOSEPH F. FORDERER.


HEY who founded the indus- tries of the Golden State are entitled to everlasting honor. That this is not outstepping the bounds of modesty is evident when we consider how hard it is to make any new business take root amongst us, and how many and disastrous have been the failures of a host who have unavailingly endeavored to plant some new industry on a lasting foundation in California. The trials and struggles of these men may not now be properly told, but the State should never forget the inestimable services they have ren- dered. Amongst those who have done yeoman's work in this regard may be mentioned the name of Joseph F. Forderer, conspicuous for his successful labors in the industrial domain.


He was educated in Cincinnati, the Ohioan metropolis. His educa- tion was of a thorough business char- acter, and such as to fit him to wrestle with the ordinary problems of life as a mechanic or a manufact- urer. When he was only nine years old, as his parents were very poor and he was the oldest of three children, he was obliged to go to work. It was his lot to labor in a cotton factory making cotton thread. He worked at that business eighteen months, receiving as wages what now appears the light remuneration of twenty-five cents per day, but as men were only paid a dollar a day, this, considering his tender years, was good for the time. The result shows what indomitable perseverance and industry can accomplish. From the cotton factory he went to work in a wire factory weaving wire cloth. Here he remained twelve months,


earning two dollars per week. But his progress was steadily onward and upward, and we next find him in a cigar factory, where he was enabled to earn from seven to nine dollars per week. The business, however, did not agree with his health, so he sought some occupation where lie could occasionally enjoy the fresh air. His father returning from the army, where he had gone to fight for the Union, times were easier at home, and wages were not an object of such importance. He theu entered into an agreement with Mr. Henry Beck- man, to learn the galvanized iron cornice and roofing business. At this his remuneration was $1.50 and board per week for the first year, two dollars for the second, and three dollars for the third year -- three years being the period of his apprenticeship. While thus engaged he lost no time in acquiring such an education as was necessary to carry on an ordinary business. He had a good opportunity to learn, as he roomed and slept with the grand- father of his employer, an old retired school teacher at that time eighty years of age. The old veteran took pride in helping the young student to acquire all the instruction needed. Mr. Forderer subsequently studied the science of geometry, a knowledge of which was very essential in the manufacture of galvanized iron cor- nices. He entered with zeal into the study of his business and with such good results that at the end of a year he was enabled to make galvanized cornices from any scale drawing. The industry was then in its infancy and capable workmen hard to find, so his employers gave the young apprentice an opportunity to make


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everything he could, and before the three years of his apprenticeship had expired he had charge of the shop. He remained with Mr. Beckman three years more. At the age of nineteen the young mechanic started in business with W. G. Bierman. He and Mr. Bierman carried on the bus- iness very successfully for about five years. In 1874 they learned that the Board of Directors of the Napa Insane Asylum of California desired some galvanized iron cornices for the building. This ended in Messrs. James Hunter & Son and Messrs. Bierman & Forderer agreeing to esti- mate on the work. They proved to be the successful bidders. This re- sulted in Mr. Forderer and James Hunter, Jr., coming to California to execute the work, with the intention of going back when it was finished, but being enamored of country and climate they concluded to remain.


So, Mr. Forderer dissolved part- nership with Mr. Bierman, and ex- changed his interest in Cincinnati for one in California with James Hunter, Jr., as a partner. This gentleman was then only 19 years of age, but bright and intelligent. Messrs. Forderer and Hunter carried on the business in San Francisco under the firm name of Forderer & Hunter. It seemed at first hard to make a success, but they worked very faithfully for about three years, at the expiration of which, in 1878, Mr. Hunter dicd. From that time until now, Mr. Joseph F. Forderer has carried on the business alone and with great success.


The industry on the Pacific Coast is far ahead in point of artistic and real merit of that in the East. Amongst the buildings which Mr. Forderer has helped to adorn and where some of the best specimens of his work can be found, are the Safe Deposit Building and the San Francisco Stock Exchange Building. Standing at the lower end of Market street, one may find some notable evidences of his skill. As far as we


now remember, they are in this neighborhood about forty in num- ber. Among those we may mention the Holbrook Block, Huntington Hopkins & Co's Block, the Lachman Block, the Eagle Block, the Union Block, and many others which are a credit to the city, and which make Market street one of our finest thor- oughfares. Last, though not least, the tower of the Chronicle Building, boasts some conspicuously fine ex- amples of his art. Portland, also bears testimony to the success of Mr. Forderer's efforts. The Sacra- mento Cathedral, the Union Club of this city, the Academy of Sciences, the Polytechnic School and the Lick Observatory, all are fine examples of its finish and perfection. There is hardly a city of importance on this coast where some of the finest work in his line cannot be found. As no one here understood the business lio may with truth be said to be a pio- neer and for a while had no easy task in overcoming the prejudices which disposed people to adhere to the old and well known styles. Merit at last triumphed, and for a long series of years, he has had the satisfaction of witnessing triumph after triumph in his own peculiar domain. Mr. Forderer is also an inventor, having patented many im- provements which are now considered indispensable. Early in his career he carried on a business of $80,000 to $100,000 a year, for several years, meanwhile keeping his own accounts and superintending his own work, a fact which proves him not only to be a business man of no ordinary abil- ity, but also to be possessed of good, clerical and general attainments. The products of his art have now become a well recognized feature in architectural decoration, and it adds its mite, by no means small one, to the sum total of our flourishing in- dnstries.


In 1873 he was married to Miss Carrie Heidt. The union has been blessed with a numerous offspring-


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three boys and five girls-the oldest of the latter being in her sixteenth year.


Mr. Forderer is a native of Baden, Germany, where he was born in 1850, but came to America at a very early age, and is therefore to all intents and purposes an Ameri- can.


His mother died after the family came to this city, but his father passed away in Cincinnati. His mother lived to see her son acquire wealth and honors. Mr. Forderer, besides his industrial pursuits, has found time to be interested in several matters of public importance. He is a Director of the Alameda Encinal Building and Loan So- ciety. He is also a Director of the California Savings and Loan Society.


He is a Trustee of the First Metho- dist Church of Alameda. He has heretofore taken no active part in politics, being wholly engrossed in his business affairs. But as he has not yet reached his fortieth year, he has abundant leisure to bear a hand dispose. He is an honest, industri- in public affairs should the future so ous citizen, and may be classed em- phatically as a self-made man ; that is, one who does not owe his present position to the adventitious aids of fortune, but who has acquired it by hard labor and the exercise of a by no means common intelligence and inventive skill.


Mr. Forderer is now one of the City Fathers of Alameda, having been elected Trustee April 13th of the present year by a good majority


CHAS. N. Fox.


CHARLES N. FOX.


HE right of this gentleman to rank among " The Builders of a Great City" is founded upon his works, rather than upon his ac- cumulations. A lawyer who has at- tained an enviable position in his pro- fession, he is in the broadest sense of the term a self-made man. Born in poverty, with but a limited common school education, he commenced life for himself before he was 16 years of age, and all his life he has been a dili- gent worker, not only educating and caring for himself, but devoting him- self and his earnings largely to the care and advancement of others. He has been a providence to all who were associated with him, and most em- phatically a builder of men. Not only . in this city, but all up and down this coast, numbers of active, useful busi ness meu may be found who acknowl- edge their gratitude and obligation to him for their start in the pursuit of fortune and of fame. His income has never been large compared to his work, but such as it was, beyond the neces- sities of himself and his family, it has been freely used for the upbuilding of others and the promotion of good works among men. Deserving poor have never appealed to him in vain ; the undeserving have often imposed upon his liberality, while public insti- tutions and public charities have always found in him a ready helper, according to his means, but more fre- quently than otherwise without the use of his name.


As a lawyer, he was the first of his profession to open the way into the city of San Francisco for the railroads that have contributed so inucli to its upbuilding, acting as attorney, and securing the right of way for the San


Francisco and San Jose Road ; next acting in a like capacity for and also as President of the Western Pacific Rail- road Company. And finally organiz- ing the Southern Pacific Railroad Com- pany. As these roads, one after an- other, passed into the hands of the Central Pacific syndicate, Mr. Fox's connection with them ceased, and he has never since had any connection with the railroad systems of the State.


It will readily be conceded that without an artificial supply of water there never could have been a great city where San Francisco now stands. Mr. Fox was early called to the coun- sels of the Spring Valley Water Works, a corporation organized in 1858 for the supply of the munici- pality and its inhabitants with water, having at its inception a capital of $60,000, but which now supplies all the water used for municipal purposes and nearly all used by the inhabitants for domestic and all other uses, having an authorized capital of $16,000,000, and works that are estimated to be worth fully $20,000,000. All the waters and sources of water supply of this company, except the little that is drawn from Lobos Creek, and nearly all the rights of way and real property of the company have been secured, and its works constructed, under the legal supervision of this long tried and trusted counselor and in the procure- inent of these rights and this vast prop- erty, there has been less of friction, and less of litigation, in proportion to amounts involved, than in any similar enterprise in the State. His work in this behalf alone has been sufficient to entitle him to rank as one of the builders of the great city. During the last fifteen years the company has been


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involved in some serious litigation, but it was not with reference to the set- tlement of property rights, but rather grew out of the question of the rights of the city in the waters of the com- pany, under new and changed condi- tions of the law. All this has been honorably conducted on the part of the attorney of the company, and finally brought to a peaceful solution, honorable, and we believe satisfactory, to all the parties concerned.


While Mr. Fox has often refused, and never sought public office, he has served the public with honor and dis- tinction ; first as District Attorney of the County of San Mateo, next as President of the Board of Education of Oakland, then again as a Member, and Chairman of the Judiciary Com- mittee of the Assembly of 1880, the first session under the New Constitu- tion, where all the laws of the State came under revision, and where in one hundred and five days he accom- plished an amount of work, as shown by the journals, never before or since equalled, and displayed a degree of ability seldom shown by any legislator in the State.


The full measure of his ability as a


lawyer was never generally known un- til in July, 1889, when he was ap- pointed by Governor Waterman to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Bench, to hold until the next general election. Entering upon the duties of that posi- tion without previous judicial ex- perience, he displayed from the start an adaptability to the work astonish- ing alike to his associates and the bar, and during the seventeen and a half months he remained there was second to none in the amount of work ac- complished, and the opinions of very few of the Judges of this State have ever given such universal satisfaction to the bar and the people. The sound- ness of his law, as applied to the facts as stated by him, was seldom, if ever, questioned ; if it was sought to revise his opinion it was upon the ground that he had misconceived the facts, as understood by counsel, and on this ground it was very seldom that a dif- ferent conclusion was reached.


Ripe now in years and experience, and strong in body and mind, he re- turns again to the practice of his pro- fession, and will, no doubt, for some years yet be recognized as among the the leaders of the bar.


PHILIP G. GALPIN.


PHILIP G. GALPIN.


T is one of the peculiarities of the legal profession that a member may be familiar with and held in the highest esteem by his brother law- yers, be in fact a Bar leader, and yet be comparatively unknown to the general public. Devoted to his call- ing, earnest in his labors in behalf of his clients, ingenious in argument, and persuasive in manner when he appears before a Court, his time is too much occupied to permit of his mixing in political affairs or taking part in the ordinary popular move- ments of the day. Such men, although from preference they may not seek distinction outside of their profes- sion, are oftentimes among the most valued members of the common- wealth, and, when occasion demands, are foremost in upholding the rights of their fellows.


Philip G. Galpin, born in Buffalo, N. Y., is of old New England stock, being a direct descendent of Thos. Fitch, the last Colonial Governor of Connecticut. At the age of five, the subject of this sketch was adopted by his uncle, after whom he had been named, Philip S. Galpin, a prominent resident of New Haven, Conn., who was for many years Mayor of the Elm City. He received the rudi- ments of his education in the New Haven public schools, afterward at- teuding Russell's Military Academy, and in 1845 entered Yale College, graduating four years later. During senior year he was President of the Brothers in Unity, a principal liter- ary and debating society of the col- lege. He began the study of the law in the office of Hon. Henry B. Harrison, afterward Governor of the State. He also attended the Yale Law School, graduated from that


institution, and was immediately afterward admitted to the Bar. Removing to Ohio, he settled at Findley, Hancock County, where he formed a law partnership with Hon. James M. Coffinberry, his brother- in-law. In those early days Nortli- ern Ohio was rather sparsely settled, and the young lawyer traveled about the neighboring counties on horse- back, carrying his law-books in the saddle-bags. He tried his first case at a little settlement called Ottokee, situated near the Michigan line. The court was held in a log-house and among the lawyers present was Mor- rison R. Waite, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, then a practicing attorney at Toledo. The judge, lawyers, and officers of the court all slept in the loft of the only tavern in the place. Mr. Galpin removed to Toledo, where he remained a year, practicing his profession, and occasionally con- tributing to the columns of the Blade, " Petroleum V. Nasby's" paper. While on a visit to New York city he was offered a partnership by Robert G. Pike. Their legal business soon began to prosper, and in 1857 he was engaged by a client to come to California. The lady's husband had left a large property here, and it was to recover possession of it that he made the long journey, coming by way of the Isthmus. He won sixteen suits for her. He returned East, and resumed practice, and soon after- ward was engaged in arguing before the U. S. Supreme Court the cases of Gray vs. Brignadello, Gray vs. Larrime, and Galpin vs. Page, which became a leading one on jurisdic- tion., In 1860 Mr. Galpin again came to this State for the purpose of


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trying several cases in ejectment for an Eastern client. He remained here at that time eighteen months. In 1865 he visited California for the third time, having been employed by the heirs of J. Ladsen Hall of Philadel- phia to endeavor to recover the estate of their father located in this city and valued at $150,000. The case was tried in the U. S. Circuit Court, and resulted in the defeat of Mr. Galpin's clients. He appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, however, and that tribunal reversed the ruling of the court below. At this latter trial the late Roscoe Conkling argued the case for the other side. The case was again argued, the second time by order of the Court, on the point whether the deed of a lunatic was absolutely void or voidable. Blackstone in his Commentaries had said it was voidable, but the Court said it was absolutely void.


Soon after this, Mr. Galpin went to Europe. Over a year was spent in traveling about the Continent. He returned to New York in 1869, and resumed practice until 1875. During his business visits to California he had become interested in real estate, and naturally was attracted by the advantages offered for professional advancement in a city like San Francisco. He removed here, and entered into a law partnership with


John T. Doyle, Henry D. Scripture and William Barber.


These three associates have since withdrawn from the partnership, and Wilbur G. Zeigler having been ad- mitted, the firm is now known as Galpin & Zeigler.


The only criminal case in which Mr. Galpin has been engaged since coming to this State was the trial of Isaac M. Kalloch for the shooting of Charles de Young, in which he was associated with Henry E. Highton. The trial resulted in the acquittal of Kalloch, after a long and exciting legal struggle.


He has argued several cases of a public character, among which were the opening of Oregon Street, the right of Kelly to a seat in the Board of Fire Commissioners, the rights of the Democrats to equal representa- tion in the Election Boards at the last Presidential election, also the question of the ownership by the State or city of lands below the line of high tide along the city front, also the validity of the Montgomery aven- ue taxes.


In his political affiliations Mr. Gal- pin is a Democrat. He has never sought any public office. The only relaxation from his labors as a hard- working practicing lawyer he finds at his charming rural home, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near Los Gatos.




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