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 25
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field. He changed its politics from Democratic to Republican, and yield- ing to the demands of its growth in popular favor, enlarged its size three different times. For some years it made a specialty of the mining in- terest, then the leading industry of the coast, and was regarded as the most reliable and enterprising organ devoting its columns to that sub- ject. Its Republicanism was so well defined, that the paper held the first placo in the faith and esteem of that party, and the "nervous, trenchant and perpendicular English " of its editorials from Jackson's own pen always commanded the attention of the public. He very early saw that the pictured daily- that is a paper illustrating its published events- was the quick-coming demand of the day. He essayed this feature in the "Post," first among the news- papers on this coast, but owing to the crude facilities for this work then accessible, his maiden efforts in this line were often a subject of criticism and ridicule by his envious rivals. Ho persevered, however, until he had the satisfaction of merit- ed success, and lived to see his pet idea adopted by all newspaperdom.
Impelled by a desire to escape the treadmill daily routine which the care of both the business and edi- torial departments of a leading daily newspaper entails upon any one who will assume that dual burden, he left the "Post" in the height of its power and influence, and for a season rested from all exacting occupation. Such an active temperament, could not, however, long remain idle.
A number of his friends, disgusted with the spirit of personal hate and vindictiveness which characterized the pictorial " Wasp " in its car- toons and lampoons of leading citi- zens, and representing to him the boundless capabilities of a satirical- comic journal, whose aim should be not personal spleen and spite, but in humorous and sarcastic vein to "shoot folly as it flies," induced
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Colonel Jackson to leave his retire- ment and take the ownership and charge of that publication. The result of his three years of manage- ment was to completely change its Ishmaelitish nature, enlarge its size, increase its subscription list and commend it to the regard of all good citizens. The field here for such a journal and the artistic faci- lities of this city for its pictorial illumination are, however, quite limited, and the prospect did not satisfy the ambition of one whose whole life had been engaged on larger projects. Colonel Jackson therefore retired from this publication, and then declared that he had quit active business for life.
This, however, was not to be. His abiding interest in politics, and his personal friendship for his fellow law-student of early days, induced him to enter into the canvass in favor of General Benjamin Harrison with his wonted nervous energy and zeal. During the entire contest he held close correspondence with the Re- publican standard - bearer on the Chinese question and other points en- tering into the debate between the parties. As a natural consequence, upon Benjamin Harrison's election, he asked that Colonel Jackson might in some manner be associated with his administration. At the personal in- vitation of the President he accept- ed the position of Assistant United
States Treasurer at San Francisco, which office he now holds with the custody of more than seventy mil- lions of dollars.
During all of Colonel Jackson's manhood career, his public duties- monopolizing and exacting as has been their tendency-have not in any manner interfered with his fond- ness for home life. He has ever dis- pensed in the family residence all the civility, courtesies, and hospital- ity that make the social circle most attractive. His wife has been a fit- ting companion in his busy life-work. While seconding his public efforts she has made his home-life attract- tive. She is a lady endowed by nature with unusual charms of man- ner and domestic graces. They have nine children-seven sons and two daughters. The elder five were born in Kentucky-the birth place of their mother and her family for many generations back - and the younger four in California. Four of the children are married. The eldest son is a graduate of Harvard Uni- versity, practicing law in this city ; another of Amherst, Mass., and a third is now at the California Uni- versity. Two others are in business here. The elder daughter is a graduate of Clarke's Institute. Col- 'onel Jackson has a charming home and family ; and there we will leave him surrounded by his children and his books he loves so well.
N. S. KEITH
NATHANIEL SHEPARD KEITH.
ATHANIEL SHEPARDKEITH was born in the city of Boston, Mass., in the year 1838, of Yan- kee parents and Scotch descent. His father, a physician, shortly after went to Dover, N. H., and afterwards to New York city, in 1851. The subject of this sketch had the benefit of an excellent common school education. Shortly after his arrival in New York, his father established a chemical manu- factory which is still carried on under the widely known name of B. Keith & Co. Young Keith was early put to work in the laboratory, where he ac- quired a good knowledge of chemistry in the most thorough, practical way- that of actual work.
In 1861 he invented a new process of desulphurizing and treating gold- bearing pyrites, or sulphurets. He went with it to Colorado, and there several mills were erected to utilize the process. He remained there until 1869. During his stay he became quite celebrated as a mining and metallurgical expert, and invented a number of improvements in milling processes and apparatus. In 1868 he was sent by a mining company to Eu- rope to visit the mines and metallurgi- cal establishments to observe the vari- ons methods of mining and treating silver cres, especially, so that such im- provements as might be found neces- sary could be adopted by the company.
From 1869 to 1871 he spent in the service of various mining companies in experting their gold mining properties in South Carolina and Georgia.
In 1871, believing in the great fu- ture of the science and art of electricity, he left mining and engaged actively in electrical investigations. He shortly after- in fact, in that year-invented
and patented a new solution for electro- plating with nickel, which was put into extensive use. He also invented a process for separating the tin and iron of tinplate waste by means of electric- ity. Three establishments, one eachı, in the cities of New York, Newark, and Lowell, were started, but stopped in 1878 owing to the low price of tin consequent upon the discovery of ex- tensive tin mines in Australia, and the then depressed price of serap iron.
In 1878 he invented the electrolytic process of desilverizing and refining lead-base bullion, for which he has re- ceived the highest commendations of metallurgists in this and European countries. He had been writing and publishing treatises on electro-metal- lurgy, especially relating to copper and lead, for some time previous, and had endeavored to interest capitalists in the establishment of works wherein metals would be refined and separated by electricity. But he was ahead of the times. The wonderful capabili- ties of that agent were not then so at- tractive to capitalists as they have since become. Now, copper is very extensively desilverized and refined by means of electricity in several estab- lishments in the United States and in Europe; and some day when the pat- ents thereon have expired, the elec- trical process of refining lead will be . practiced, if we are to take the substi- tution of the Parkes process for the old Patterson process of desilverizing lead, as a precedent.
Meantime, Mr. Keith was acting as expert before the courts, and other- wise, in electrical and chemical mat- ters. This he has continucd up to the present, having been called upon sev- eral times during his residence in
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California to testify upon such subjects before the courts.
In 1884, while editing the scientific department of the "Electrical World" of New York, the largest and most important electrical periodical in the world, he was called upon by the Government of the United States to attend as a conferee, the International Conference of Electricians, held in Phil- adelphia in September, 1884. The pub- lished report of the Conference shows that he took a very active part therein.
In April, 1884, he organized the American Institute of Electrical Engi- neers, and was its first Secretary. He was also one of the " Examiners" of the International Electrical Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1884, under the supervision of the Franklin Insti- tute. He was selected there to lecture upon "Electro-Metallurgy," as an au- thority on the subject among the noted men who gave lectures upon various electrical subjects with which they were publically identified.
In November, 1884, he came to San Francisco, where he has been pron- inently before the public as an inventor and manufacturer of electric generators and electric motors. He may be said to be the father of electric power trans- mission on this coast. His motors are noted here as being the best. The facility and economy with which
power can be brought to the places where wanted, by the aid of his mo- tors, has already increased the in- dustries of San Francisco, and will continue to add to them for years to come, until the present few hundreds of electric motors in operation here will increase to many thousands. As the city grows and lives by its in- dustries, shall not he who has estab- lished a new industry here, and aided the organization and operation of others, be doubly entitled to have his name go down to posterity as one of the "Builders of a Great City ?"
Mr. Keith has been addressed for many years by the title of "Professor," in recognition by the public of his pro- fessional attainments. He is contin- ually devising and inventing improve- ments in electrical and chemical pro- cesses and apparatus. He has secured many patents in these lines, and has several now pending before the Patent Office.
The Electrical Engineering Company in San Francisco has purchased the right to his patents in the States of the Pacific Coast and has engaged his services as its electrical engineer, an l entered extensively into all the branches of electrical manufacturing and engineering. It is a strong com- pany and carries on a great industry to assist the growth of the city.
JOHN F. KENNEDY.
JOHN F. KENNEDY.
F the substantial and public- spirited citizens of San Fran- cisco, none have had a more honorable and successful business career, or served in public life with a more unblemished record, than John F. Kennedy.
This gentleman was born on his father's farm at Ardoise Hill in the county of Hants, Nova Scotia, fifty four years ago. By an inadvertent act of friendship, his father had gone bondsman for a considerable amount and subsequently had to pay it; and in doing so the whole of his property was absorbed.
He died soon after this unfortunate transaction and left young Kennedy at the age of eleven years the sole support of his mother, and the younger members of the family.
This necessitated his bidding fare- well to school, and feeling keenly the responsibility which had fallen upon him he concluded to leave the old farm and commence life's battles.
Accordingly he at once proceeded to Halifax, where remuneration for all sorts of labor being small, he remained but a short time, going to Boston, Mass., there learning the trade of a painter. After finishing his appren- ticeship, a strong desire to better his condition took possession of him, and, hearing favorable reports of Califor- nia, he soon decided to embark for the Golden State. No sooner was this decision made than he secured passage and set sail on the "Star of the West" for Aspinwall. Crossing the Isthmus he took the "John L. Stevens " at Panama, and after an uneventful voyage, arrived at San Francisco the 15th of May, 1858.
Immediately upon his arrival Mr. Kennedy commenced work at his trade. Full of manly vigor and
equipped with a stock of pluck and determination, he soon did a paying business. This he relinquished tem- porarily to become foreman of the bonded warehouse on Vallejo street built by Daniel Gibb & Co. He soon after resumed the painting business and secured contracts which insured his future prospects, and, as his savings accumulated, he invested judiciously in real estate. Assured that he had now reached the goal of success, he went back to his old home and returned with his widowed mother and the younger children.
Being again united with his family his whole energy and time were de- voted to his business interests, and seeing opportunities to embark in the lumber trade, he organized the Western Mill and Lumber Company. Securing a favorable site on Puget Sound, he at once commenced the erection of mills equipped with modern machinery. Disposing of this property he turned his attention to redwood timber lands and has now in the neighborhood of 10,000 acres in the redwood belt. He organized the Central California Lumber Co. and the Kennedy & Shaw Lumber Co., being now President of both. Under the firm name of Morris & Kennedy, which firm still exists, he also became interested in the artist material and fine art business, a taste for which was then rapidly develop- ing in San Francisco.
He is a large stockholder and di- rector in the Ray Copper Company of Arizona, and received from the California State Mining Board a diploma for valuable specimens given by him. He is a member of the Mechanics' Institute, of the Geogra- phical Society and a director in the Masonic Mutual Aid Association. HG
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is also a member of numerous benev- olent organizations, among which may be mentioned the Odd Fellows, Caledonian Club, Masons, St. Andrews and A. O. U. W., and has held promin- ent offices in each.
In 1882 he was elected by the sons of "Auld Scotia" as the chief of their representative society, the Caledoni- ans, and was re-elected repeatedly to that office for years. From him evolved the idea of this body possess- ing a hall of its own, the happy re- sult of which is the present Scottish Hall, of which he was its first and successive President, until his time would not permit it longer. His lat- est effort is the organization of the Pacific Masonic Hall Association, and he, as its President, has lately pur- chased a piece of property 80x137} feet on Geary street, with a view of erecting a Masonie Hall thereon.
As it is the duty of every good cit- izen to take an interest in the politi- cal situation of the State and country, Mr. Kennedy has not failed to do his part manfully, intelligently and hon- orably. He has been a member of Republican State Conventions at va- rious times. He was a member of the last Taxpayers' Convention held in San Francisco in 1877. In this con- vention were many prominent Cali- fornians. He was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors for 1882- 83, and for the work he did for the city during his term he deserves the highest commendation. He attended to his duties, and gave them the same attention that he would to his private business, if not more so. One in- stance of what he accomplished for the city's benefit may be mentioned. When he took his seat in the Board fully $12,000 a year was being paid out by the city for the rental of out- side offices for municipal purposes, while at that time fifteen rooms were vacant in the City Hall. As Chair- man of the Committee on Public
Buildings he soon had these occupied, and with the $50,000 then appropri- ated for the building, he had more offices fitted up, which, by his timely efforts, were occupied within six inonths from the time he commenced to stop this flagrant, needless expen- diture, thereby saving to the city a very large yearly outlay.
He never advocated a measure in that Board that wasnot carried, and this illustrates his general good judgment and the high estimation in which he was held by the members. In 1884 he was nominated for the Legislature, but owing to the press of his private business, which required his whole tine, he declined the honor. This, too, was at a time when the nomination was equivalent to an election, bis dis- trict being very largely Republican.
Mr. Kennedy was married in 1860 to Miss Alice Nevin, the result of which union has been four children- three sons and one daughter. Albert Warren Kennedy, the eldest son, is Treasurer of the Kennedy & Shaw Lumber Company and of the Central California Lumber Company. The two younger sons are attending school: Arthur John receiving his ed- ucation at the Brewer College, San Mateo, while Henry Alexander at- tends the public schools of this city. His daughter, Lulu, is the wife of Mr. Loring B. Doc, of the firm of Anto- nelli & Doc, railway and general con- tractors.
Of an unsullied character, either in publie or private life, Mr. Kennedy may well feel proud of the position he has attained among San Francis- co's representative men. He is well preserved, possesses an admirable physique, and bids fair to enjoy many more years of usefulness. He is an excellent type of the self-made man. Every movement tending to advance the interests of the city, and in char- itable affairs, deserving support, ho has liberally contributed to.
J. N. KILLIP
JASPER NEWTON KILLIP.
N business as well as in social circles it is not always those F who make the most show or affect the greatest display that are most necessary to the welfare of the people. The bulk of the important work in the founding of city or State is put forth by those who emphatic- ally make no sign, but who are con- tent to enlist their best energies in the accomplishment of a life work and in the building up of im- portant enterprises without any hope or expectation of notoriety or of the empty satisfaction that often accom- panies it. The men in the ranks, whether of commerce, manufacture, or kindred occupations, are the real city and State builders. Amongst such we may class Jasper Newton Killip. Mr. Killip is of German ancestry. He was born in Bloom- ington, McLean County, Ill., in 1837. His parents removed thence when he was very young. They settled in Racine, Wis., where he attended the public schools. The greater part of his education, however, was of the eminently practical kind, and derived from his long and varied experience of the world and of man. Most of his life has been passed on the Pacific Coast and in the midst of its busiest scenes, as he accompanied his parents to California in 1852 when a mere boy of fifteen, they settling in the city of Sacramento, where they remained till 1854. Thence he proceeded to the mountains and spent some time in the occupation of mining in Nevada and Sierra Counties. He was not, however, very successful in this pur- suit and abandoned it, going to Vir- ginia City in 1859. There he em- barked in the liquor business. He was also interested in mining. He
came to this city in 1861 while still a very young man, and may, therefore, in all respects be said to be a thor- ough San Franciscan. He first en- gaged in the livery stable business in which he remained for eleven years. He had for a partner E. J. Baldwin, better known as "Lucky" Baldwin, with whom he remained six years. A man named Nathan then shared his fortunes for a couple of years more, James Craig being his partner for the balance of the time. In 1872 he became engaged in the auction business, being at first in partner- ship with Horace Covey, his specialty being the sale of live stock, in which lie and his partners for the past nine years have been very successful. The sales made by his firm while of the greatest possible advantage to own- ers of stock farms have also, by induc- ing competition, been the means of im- proving much the various breeds and in offering inducements for the in- troduction of the best to the State. The firm has made in this line the largest sales ever heard of in Cali- fornia, and which have been steadily increasing. Mr. Killip has been as- sociated in business with Charles Metaphor Chase for the past sixteen years. The partners are well suited to each other, the result being that a more than ordinary amount of suc- cess has attended their operations. Mr. Killip is a member of Excelsior Lodge, F. & A. M. He is a quiet, unassuming gentlemen. He has led an active business life but is opposed to show and ostentation. His charac- ter being social and domestic, of good repute and ample fortune, he has reached the goal for which many are striving. He has yet many years of business usefulness before him.
FREDERICK R. KING.
HE subject of our sketch is the inheritor of a name that is par- ticularly dear to Californians. Frederick R. King is the only son of Thomas Starr King, who died in this city at the early age of 39 years. Although the parent enjoyed a nation- al reputation before coming to this State, his labors on behalf of the Union after arriving here in 1860 up to the time of his death, four years later, shed a halo of patriotism around his name which can never be effaced. His strong speeches in different parts of the State revived the drooping spirits of the people and helped to anchor the Golden State firmly to the Union cause. His eloquent tongue was especially employed in soliciting aid in behalf of the Sani- tary Commission, and to his efforts alone are generally accorded the munificent contributions made by California to that noble cause.
Frederick R. King was born in this city April 4, 1862, during one of the most stirring periods of the war. He was educated in the public schools, and after graduating from the High School entered Harvard College. During his college days he became acquainted with many members of his father's old congre- gation in Boston, and they watched the career of the son of their revered pastor with unusual interest. Soon after the death of Starr King his library, according to his request, had been sent to the Hollis-street Church in Boston, whose pulpit he had occu- pied for twelve years. When Fred- erick was about leaving college the Trustees invited him to revisit the library and take from the books for- merly belonging to his father, such volumes as he might de-
sire. Mr. King graduated in 1884. and soon afterward returned to this city. Although he had always had a predilection for the law, there did not at that time appear to be a satis- factory opening, and he accepted the offer of a position with the Oregon Improvement Company where he re- mained a year. At the end of that time he entered the office of Fox & Kellogg and began the study of the law. In 1887 he was admitted to practice and for two years remained in the office as managing clerk. On the 1st of January, 1889, he was ad- mitted a partner, the firm being known as Fox, Kellogg & King. When, upon the appointment of Governor Waterman, Mr. Fox took his place, in July, 1889, on the Supreme bench, to fill out the unex- pired term of Jackson Temple, the firm became Kellogg & King.
There is no doubt that the profes- sion of the law affords ample oppor- tunities for the utmost exertion of the mind, and that the well-equipped lawyer may find in the exercise of his vocation ample scope for the employ- ment of his intellect, be it ever so active or robust. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that in- stances are so rare where the lawyer takes up some study outside of his profession. In commenting upon this matter, Hamerton, the artist- author, speaks of asking an eminent London lawyer whether he ever visit- ed an exhibition of pictures, and he answered by the counter-inquiry whether " I had read Chitty on Con- tracts, Collier on Partnerships, Tay- lor on Evidence, Crave's Digest on Smith's Mercantile Law ?" Not- withstanding this proverbial " disin- terestedness," as Hamerton termed
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it, of lawyers, Mr. King has found time apart from the cares of his pro- fession to indulge in intellectual recreation outside of it. Besides being the possessor of a large mis- cellaneous library, he is an enthu- siastic collector of Shakesperean literature. This is, as all must be aware, slow work, but Mr. King has already made an excellent beginning. He now has between 40,000 and 50,- 000 titles, and is constantly on the lookout for additions.
Mr. King has never shown any fondness for politics, and has never held any public position. He is a
member of the order of Native Sons of the Golden West, and is sec- ond Vice-President of the Harvard Alumni Association in this city.
Mr. King was married in 1885 to Miss Boswell, a daughter of S. B. Boswell, a well known resident of this city. The fruit of this union is two boys, the younger bearing the name of his paternal grandfather. He has a sister, the wife of Hon. Horace Davis. His mother is also living in this city. She married for her second husband William Nor- ris, Secretary of the Spring Valley Water Co.
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