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 37
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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
Last Fall Mr. Wilson was appoint- ed Insurance Commissioner by Gov- ernor Waterman, to succeed Mr. Wadsworth. He accepted the ap- pointment, which was promptly con- firmed by the Senate, and in Janu- ary last he resigned his office as State Senator. On the 5th of April,
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of the present year, he assumed the duties of his new position. He is especially qualified for this office, as he has for years devoted a good deal of attention to insurance law, and is well versed in it. Although the term of Insurance Commissioner continues for four years the duties will not interfere with the practice of his profession. Mr. Wilson has always been an active and consistent Republican, and in every campaign since his majority he has labored in the interest of the party on the stump. He is an earnest and con- vincing speaker, and has acquired a wide influence in the councils of his political brethren. The National Guard has no warmer friend than J. N. E. Wilson, and during his term of service in the Senate he was able on several occasions to advance its interests. This is well known and is thoroughly appreciated by the mem- bers of our citizen-soldiery. He holds a commission as Major and Judge Advocate on the staff, General John T. Cutting commanding the Second Brigade.
Mr. Wilson is identified with a number of the fraternal organiza- tions. He is a prominent Odd
Fellow, and represented California at the Grand Communications held at Baltimore and Boston in 1885 and 1886, respectively. He is a member of Excelsior Lodge F. and A. M., San Francisco Chapter, and a mem- ber of Golden Gate Commandery, Knights Templar and of the Shrine. He is also a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West. Al- though since his service as District Attorney most of Mr. Wilson's prac- tice has been confined to the conduct of important civil actions, he has sev- eral times been engaged in criminal cases, and in these he has been re- markably successful. His clear, log- ical manner of presenting the salient points in a case, combined with his urbanity of manner and sincerity of address, prove very captivating to the occupants of the jury box, and if he should elect to follow that path in jurisprudence, there are few lawyers at the bar who would be his peers. Mr. Wilson is married, and his home is a most happy one, and sur- rounded by his family or in the com- pany of his books, which he loves next to wife and children, he finds a pleasant solace from professional cares.
HENRY B. WILLIAMS.
HENRY B. WILLIAMS.
MONG the names which are in- dissolubly linked with the phe- nomenal growth and permanent prosperity of San Francisco, that of Henry B. Williams must always oc- cupy a conspicuous position. For more than thirty-seven years he has been identified with some of the most extensive and successful mer- cantile enterprises of the Pacific Coast, and may be well denominated one of the "Builders of a Great City." The firm of Williams, Dimond & Co., of which he was the senior member, ranks among the foremost commercial houses in San Francisco, and has ever been in the forefront of any movement tend- ing to the promotion of the city's trade and the creation of a market for its industrial products. No steamer leaves our wharves that does not carry large consignments of goods shipped under the name of this well known firm. Mr. Williams was a native of the Green Mountain State, having been born at Wood- stock, Vt., in 1820.
When 14 years of age he entered the employ of his uncle, Thatcher Tucker, at that time one of the lead- ing wholesale merchants in woolen goods in New York City, whose store was located on Broad street. Here the sterling qualities which raised Mr. Williams to his late enviable position rapidly developed, and such was his assiduity and aptitude at the age of 24, that he was advanced to a partnership in the firm. Having thus attained a recognized standing in the business community he soon after, in 1846, married Miss Mary E. Cooke, of Providence, R. I. The ambitious mind of Mr. Williams, and the unerring instinct ever so promin-
ent a characteristic of the man, led him early into the ranks of the dar- ing spirits who were daily abandon- ing the comforts and delights of the Eastern civilization for the untried hardships but alluring pro-pects of the new El Dorado. He left New York for California in 1852, in com- pany with his brother-in-law Joseph J. Cooke, who, with his brother, George L. Cooke, was already es- tablished in business in San Fran- cisco. The Cooke Brothers were among the first of the Argonauts, having been passengers on the sec- ond steamer that arrived at San Francisco in 1849. Mr. Wiliams remained in the employ of Cooke Bros. & Co., until 1855, when he accepted the position of cor- respondent in the old and re- nowned firm of William T. Coleman & Co. This position he retained until March, 1865, when he establish- ed a shipping and commission busi- ness under his own name on Front street. On January 1, 1867, Mr. Henry P. Blanchard was admitted to partnership, the firm name being changed to Williams, Blanchard & Co. On July 1, 1868, Charles B. Morgan was admitted into the firm and withdrew from it March 20, 1875. The firm of Williams, Blanchard & Co. was dissolved in 1879, and the present house of Williams, Dimond & Co. was formed, composed of Henry B. Williams, William H. Dimond, and A. Chesebrough. The ramifications of the business of this great concern extended over the length and breadth of the Pacific Coast, while its correspondents were located in all the leading cities of the world. In 1876, Williams, Blanchard & Co. became the agents
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of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com- pany. Mr. Williams devoted him- self especially to the business of the Mail Company, the success of which was largely due to his talent and sagacity. Mr. Williams was a thor- oughly honest man in every respect. Benevolent and charitable, he bore without reproach the grand old name of gentleman. He was confirmed by Bishop Kip in the old Grace Church in 1857, and became one of the vestrymen. Up to the time of his death he owned the identical pew purchased by him when the church was finished. He was a member of Occidental Lodge, F. and A. M., No. 22, and San Francisco Com- mandery No. 1.
In recognition of his services in the promotion of the sugar trade in the Sandwich Islands, he was knighted by that Government.
He died at the Arlington Hotel, Santa Barbara, on the evening of the 8th of February, 1890, aged 70 years and 14 days. The immediate cause of his death was apoplexy. He had, however, suffered from nervous prostration for many months. At the time of the fatal stroke he was the victim of a complication of diseases, any one of which would have long before resulted fatally to a man of less rugged constitution. He left a widow and one daughter, the wife of Mr. Alfred Poett, a civil engineer of Santa Barbara.
WILBUR G. ZEIGLER.
WILBUR G. ZEIGLER.
MONG the younger members of the Bar, who, by their ability and public spirit are doing much to build up the fair city of San Francisco, there is none more entitled to a prominent place than the subject of this sketch. Wilbur G. Zeigler was born in Fremont, Sandusky County, O., on the 29th of September, 1859. He attended the public schools of his native town, graduating at the age of 18. Having decided upon following the profession of the law, he immediately began his studies, entering the office of Judge McKinney, in Cleveland. His labors as a student were completed in the office of General R. P. Buckland, of Fremont. He was admitted to prac- tice before the Supreme Court of the State, at Columbus, March 1, 1881, ranking first in a class of sixteen ap- plicants. While pursuing his law studies, Mr. Zeigler acted as corre- spondent for several leading news- papers, and for a short time was at- tached to the local staff of the Cleve- land Herald. At this time the ques- tion of following an exclusive literary or legal career was demanding an answer. Several journeys to the picturesque mountains of Western North Carolina had been made by him while acting as a corre- spondent for Northern newspapers, and the favorable reception which his communications had met, as well as the success which had attended the publication of other literary produc- tions written about this time, turn- ed his mind toward literature. While in this frame of thought he deter- mined to put the result of his travels and observations of life and nature in the Southern Mountains into book form. Ben. S. Grosscup, now an at-
torney-at-law in Ashland, O., united with him in the plan, and together they paid a last visit to Western North Carolina.
The young men met with more dis- courgement in their undertaking than they had foreseen. The man- ner in which all impediments were overcome, however, was indicative of the energy and enterprise which later has marked the professional career of at least one of the asso- ciates.
The plan of the work was what might have been termed an ambi- tious one. The heading of their prospectus, printed before a page of the proposed volume had been written, set forth that it would treat of the "Topography, History, Re- sources and People ; with Narra- tives, Incidents and Pictures of Travel, Adventures in Hunting, and Fishing and the Legends of the Wilderness." Through their efforts they were able to adopt the above quoted promise of their prospectus as their title page.
Mr. Grosscup, who had had some experience in statistical and biogra- phical work, took up the treatment of the resources, history and Indian occupation. The other branches of the manifold subject were assumed by Mr. Zeigler, who, in order to fit himself for truthful representation of the country and people, traveled both on foot and horseback through the twenty mountainous counties of the region. He dragged an artist with him into the wilderness to sketch the scenery, hunted with the bearers of flint-lock rifles for ad- ventures, mingled with every class of life for experiences, danced at hoe- downs, visited moonshiners' stills in
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lonely ravines, attended baptisms and shooting-matches, rode the circuits with the lawyers, and with the happy faculty of seeing the inter- esting and amusing sides of things, wrote enthusiastically of what he had seen, felt and heard.
The book was printed and pub- lished by the authors, under the title of "The Heart fo the Alleghanies." It was well and favorably received by the press both of the North and of the region written about, and a second edition was issued.
Before being admitted to the Bar, Mr. Zeigler was offered a partner- ship with R. P. and H. S. Buckland, at Fremont, and when he had passed his examination he accepted it. The senior member of that firm had been for many years prominently identified with national and state affairs. His ability as a lawyer was long and well-established, and his record as a Member of Congress and military commander had made him a wide reputation. The firm was enjoy- ing an extensive practice, and as attorneys for persons representing large interests, it offered much in- ducement for a newly-fledged mem- ber of the profession to continue in it, but after two years' connection therewith, the subject of this sketch seeing, as he thought, a wider field on
the Pacific Coast, he left his native State for San Francisco, arriving here in September, 1883. Since that time he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. At the present time and for the past two years he has been associated with Philip G. Galpin, under the firm name of Galpin & Zeigler.
Among late decided cases of im- portance, either as to the law prin- ciples involved or the amount of property in litigation, in which the firm has appeared as attorneys for the successful litigant, might be mentioned the Montgomery-avenue Tax cases, the United States vs. Hite, the tide land case of the United Land Association vs. Knight, Cox vs. Delmas, the Oregon-street case of the People vs. Smith.
The business of the firm is very heavy, being, however, entirely of a civil nature, particularly land, patent, equity, and probate practice. The offices occupied by the firm in the new building of the First Na- tional Bank, are elegantly furnished, and contain one of the best equip- ed law libraries in the city.
Mr. Zeigler is still unmarried. Soon after his arrival in this State, his parents crossed the Continent to join him, and have since made their home with him.
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