Charles Crocker

Last updated

"Merced County Sun 10 December 1909 — California Digital Newspaper Collection : GEO. CROCKER IS DEAD IN NEW YORK". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved January 20, 2024.

Contents

Charles Crocker
Charles C Crocker by Stephen W Shaw.jpg
c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw
Born(1822-09-16)September 16, 1822
Troy, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 14, 1888(1888-08-14) (aged 65)
Monterey, California, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse
Mary Ann Deming
​
​
(m. 1852;died 1887)​
Children6, including Charles, George, William
Relatives Edwin B. Crocker (brother)
Henry J. Crocker (nephew)
Harry Crocker (grand-nephew)

Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took control with partners of the Southern Pacific Railroad. [1]

Early years

Crocker was born in Troy, New York on September 16, 1822. [1] He was the son of Eliza (née Wright) and Isaac Crocker, a modest family. They joined the nineteenth-century migration west and moved to Indiana when he was 14, where they had a farm. Crocker soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge. [1]

At the age of 23, in 1845, he founded a small, independent iron forge of his own. He used money saved from his earnings to invest later in the new railroad business after moving to California, which had become a boom state since the Gold Rush. His older brother Edwin B. Crocker had become an attorney by the time Crocker was investing in railroads. [2]

Founding a railroad

Pacific Railroad Bond, City and County of San Francisco, 1865 San Francisco Pacific Railroad Bond WPRR 1865.jpg
Pacific Railroad Bond, City and County of San Francisco, 1865
The Truckee River at Verdi, Nevada. When the Central Pacific Railroad reached the site in 1868, Charles Crocker pulled a slip of paper from a hat and read the name of Giuseppe Verdi ; so, the town was named after the Italian opera composer. Truckee River at Verdi, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Nevada, Central Pacific R.R, by Thomas Houseworth & Co..jpg
The Truckee River at Verdi, Nevada. When the Central Pacific Railroad reached the site in 1868, Charles Crocker pulled a slip of paper from a hat and read the name of Giuseppe Verdi  ; so, the town was named after the Italian opera composer.
Charles Crocker's Second Empire-Italian Villa style mansion (1877), formerly at the N.W. corner of California & Taylor, on Nob Hill, San Francisco, now the site of Grace Cathedral. Isaiah West Taber (1830-1912) Charles Crocker's Residence, San Franciscoca. 1880 SFMOMA.jpg
Charles Crocker's Second Empire-Italian Villa style mansion (1877), formerly at the N.W. corner of California & Taylor, on Nob Hill, San Francisco, now the site of Grace Cathedral.

In 1861, after hearing an intriguing presentation by Theodore Judah, he was one of the four principal investors, along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford (also known as The Big Four), who formed the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the western portion of the First transcontinental railroad in North America. His position with the company was that of construction supervisor and president of Charles Crocker & Co., a Central Pacific subsidiary founded expressly for the purpose of building the railroad.

Crocker bought train plows to plow the tracks of snow through the mountains, but they derailed due to ice on the tracks. He had more than 40 miles (65 km) of snow sheds built to cover the tracks in the Sierra Nevada mountains, to prevent the tracks from getting covered with snow in the winter. This project cost over $2 million. [5]

In 1864, Charles asked his older brother Edwin to serve as legal counsel for the Central Pacific Railroad. [2]

While the Central Pacific was still under construction in 1868, Crocker and his three associates acquired control of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It built the westernmost portion of the second transcontinental railroad. Deming, New Mexico, is named after his wife, Mary Ann Deming Crocker. A silver spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads, completing the construction of the second transcontinental railroad in the United States. [6] On September 5, 1876, at the Lang Southern Pacific Station, a California Historic Landmark, Crocker hammered a golden spike into a railroad tie, the ceremonial spike was driven to celebrate the completion of San Joaquin Valley rail line. The completion of the line connected the City of Los Angeles with San Francisco and First transcontinental railroad line. [7]

Banking

Crocker was briefly the controlling shareholder of Wells Fargo in 1869 and served as president. After he sold down, he was replaced by John J. Valentine, Sr. [8] Crocker also acquired controlling interest for his son William in Woolworth National Bank, which was renamed Crocker-Anglo Bank.

In 1963, Crocker-Anglo Bank merged with Los Angeles' Citizens National Bank, to become Crocker-Citizens Bank [9] and later, Crocker National Bank. [10] The San Francisco-based bank no longer exists, as it was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986. [11] [12]

Nob Hill Spite fence Muybridge SF pan 1878 portion showing spite fence.jpg
Nob Hill Spite fence

Nob Hill and the 40 foot tall spite fence

Crocker built a mansion on Nob Hill, San Francisco. When his attempts to buy Nicholas Yung's adjacent property were rebuffed, he built a 40-foot spite fence around three sides of the neighbor's property. Legal challenges to the fence were unavailing. The feud lasted many years, and the fence was only removed after the death of Mrs. Yung, and the sale of the property by Yung's heirs to Crocker's family. Spite fences were thereafter made illegal in San Francisco. The mansion was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Though the disaster rendered the infamous dispute and its resolution moot, Crocker's family donated the entire block of land to charity, in support of the Episcopal Diocese of California. [13] In 1910, in the same plot where the fence stood, the cornerstone was laid for Grace Cathedral. [14]

Personal life

Painting of Crocker's daughter, Harriet, by Giovanni Boldini, 1887 Harriet Valentine Crocker Alexander, by Giovanni Boldini.jpg
Painting of Crocker's daughter, Harriet, by Giovanni Boldini, 1887

In 1852, Crocker was married to Mary Ann Deming (1827–1889). [15] Mary was the daughter of John Jay Deming and Emily (née Reed) Deming. Together, they had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood: [16]

Crocker was seriously injured in a New York City carriage accident in 1886, [25] never fully recovered, and died two years later on August 14, 1888. [26] [1] He was buried in a mausoleum located on "Millionaire's Row" at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. [27] The massive granite structure was designed by the New York architect A. Page Brown, who later designed the San Francisco Ferry Building. [28] [29] Crocker's estate has been valued at between $300 million and $400 million at the time of his death in 1888.

During his lifetime Charles Crocker amassed a considerable collection of works of art. [30]

Crocker's tomb in Mountain View Cemetery Charles Crocker Tomb, Oakland, CA.jpg
Crocker's tomb in Mountain View Cemetery

Descendants

Through his son Charles, he was the grandfather of Mary Crocker (1881–1905), who married U.S. Congressman Francis Burton Harrison; Charles Templeton Crocker (1884–1948); and Jennie Adeline Crocker (1887–1974). [31]

Through his daughter Harriet, he was the grandfather of Mary Crocker Alexander (1895–1986), who married diplomat Sheldon Whitehouse. [32] Their son was Charles Sheldon Whitehouse (1921–2001), the United States Ambassador to Laos and Thailand, [33] and their grandson, Crocker's great-great-grandson, is U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. [33]

Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Charles Crocker, William Willard Crocker, Helen Crocker (Russell) and Ethel Mary Crocker (de Limur). [24]

Family tree

Family of Charles Crocker
Nancy Crocker
1792–1854		Isaac Crocker
1781–1856
Mary Norton
1821–47		 Edwin B. Crocker
1818–75		Margaret Rhodes
1822–1901		Mary Ann Deming
1827–89		 Charles Crocker
1822–88		Clarke Crocker [lower-alpha 1]
1827–90		Henry S. Crocker [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3]
1832–1904
Mary Norton Crocker
1846–1923		[two marriages]Edwin Clark Crocker
1856–56		Nellie Margaret Crocker
1856–79		 Aimée Isabella Crocker
1864–1941		[five marriages] Henry J. Crocker [lower-alpha 4] [lower-alpha 5]
1861–1912
Kate Eugenie Crocker
1854–74		James O.B. Gunn
1846–1923		 Jennie Louise Crocker
1860–1939		 Jacob Sloat Fassett
1853–1924
[multiple children] [lower-alpha 6] [multiple children][multiple children]
Emily Elizabeth Crocker
1853–53		Emma Hanchett
1855–1904		 George Crocker
1856–1909		Harriet Valentine Crocker
1859–1935		Charles Beatty Alexander [lower-alpha 7]
1849–1927
Jennie Easton [lower-alpha 8]
1858–87		 Charles Frederick Crocker
1854–97		Francis Crocker
1858–62		Ethel Sperry
1861–1934		 William Henry Crocker
1861–1937
Mary Crocker
1881–1905		 Francis Burton Harrison
1873–1957		Harriet Crocker Alexander
1888–1972		 Winthrop W. Aldrich
1885–1974		[multiple children]
Helene Irwin [lower-alpha 9]
1887–1966		 Charles Templeton Crocker
1884–1948		Janetta Alexander
1890–1973		Arnold Whitridge
1892–1989		 Harry Crocker [lower-alpha 5]
1893–1958
Malcolm Whitman
1877–1932		Jennie Adeline Crocker
1887–1974		Robert Henderson
1877–1940		Mary Crocker Alexander
1895–1986		 Sheldon Whitehouse
1883–1965
[multiple children][multiple children][one child][multiple children][multiple children][multiple children] [lower-alpha 10]
Notes
  1. ↑ Married to Julia A Kimball (1830–1901)
  2. ↑ Married to Clara Ellen Swinerton (1845–1910)
  3. ↑ At least one son, Charles Henry (1865–1935)
  4. ↑ Married to Mary Virginia Ives (1863–1929)
  5. 1 2 Multiple siblings (not shown)
  6. ↑ Including actress Kate McComb (1871–1959), from Mary Crocker's first marriage to Charles L. Scudder.
  7. ↑ Uncle of Eleanor Butler Roosevelt (1888–1960)
  8. ↑ Niece of Darius Ogden Mills (1825–1910)
  9. ↑ Daughter of William G. Irwin (1843–1914)
  10. ↑ Including Ambassador Charles S. Whitehouse (1921–2001), father of US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (1955–); and Sylvia Whitehouse (1930–), wife of Ambassador Robert O. Blake (1921–2015) and mother of Ambassador Robert O. Blake Jr. (1957–).
Sources

Honors

Mount Crocker is named in his honor. [34] It is located in California's Sierra Nevada mountains.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Pacific Railroad</span> U.S. company that built western leg of the first transcontinental railroad

The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North America. Incorporated in 1861, CPRR ceased operation in 1959 when assets were formally merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Judah</span> American businessman

Theodore Dehone Judah was an American civil engineer who was a central figure in the original promotion, establishment, and design of the First transcontinental railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR). As chief engineer, he performed much of the route survey work to determine the best alignment for the railroad over the Sierra Nevada, which was completed six years after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leland Stanford</span> American politician and railroad tycoon (1824–1893)

Amasa Leland Stanford was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party politician from California. He served as the 8th Governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1885 until his death in 1893. He and his wife Jane founded Stanford University, named after their late son.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collis Potter Huntington</span> American railroad magnate (1821–1900)

Collis Potter Huntington was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading who invested in Theodore Judah's idea to build the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad. Huntington helped lead and develop other major interstate lines, such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), which he was recruited to help complete. The C&O, completed in 1873, fulfilled a long-held dream of Virginians of a rail link from the James River at Richmond to the Ohio River Valley. The new railroad facilities adjacent to the river there resulted in expansion of the former small town of Guyandotte, West Virginia into part of a new city which was named Huntington in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Four (Central Pacific Railroad)</span> Tycoons of the Central Pacific Railroad

"The Big Four" was the name popularly given to the famous and influential businessmen, philanthropists and railroad tycoons who funded the Central Pacific Railroad (C.P.R.R.), which formed the western portion through the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, built from the mid-continent at the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean during the middle and late 1860s. Composed of Leland Stanford (1824–1893), Collis Potter Huntington (1821–1900), Mark Hopkins Jr. (1813–1878), and Charles Crocker (1822–1888), the four themselves, however, personally preferred to be known as "The Associates." They enriched themselves utilizing tax money and land grants, while heavily influencing the state legislature from within the Republican Party, and through monopolizing tactics. Contemporary critics claimed they were the greatest swindlers in U.S. history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Hopkins Jr.</span> American railway entrepreneur

Mark Hopkins Jr. was an American railroad executive. He was one of four principal investors that funded Theodore D. Judah's idea of building a railway over the Sierra Nevada from Sacramento, California to Promontory, Utah. They formed the Central Pacific Railroad along with Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Collis Huntington in 1861.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocker National Bank</span> Former United States bank

Crocker National Bank was a United States bank headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was acquired by and merged into Wells Fargo Bank in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Henry Crocker</span> American banker

William Henry Crocker I was an American banker, the president of Crocker National Bank and a prominent member of the Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaias W. Hellman</span> American financier of German-Jewish descent

Isaias Wolf Hellman was a Kingdom of Bavaria-born American banker and philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John J. Valentine Sr.</span> American businessman (1840–1901)

John Joseph Valentine Sr. was an American expressman. He was the first president of Wells Fargo & Company who had not been a banker and served from 1892 until his death in 1901.

Danford Newton Barney was an American expressman who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company from 1853 to 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Tevis</span> American businessman (1824–1899)

Lloyd Tevis was a banker and capitalist who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company from 1872 to 1892.

The Western Pacific Railroad (1862–1870) was formed in 1862 to build a railroad from Sacramento, California, to the San Francisco Bay, the westernmost portion of the First transcontinental railroad. After the completion of the railroad from Sacramento to Alameda Terminal on September 6, 1869, and then the Oakland Pier on November 8, 1869, which was the Pacific coast terminus of the transcontinental railroad, the Western Pacific Railroad was absorbed in 1870 into the Central Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Frederick Crocker</span>

Charles Frederick Crocker was vice president of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin B. Crocker</span> American judge

Edwin Bryant Crocker was a California Supreme Court Justice and founder of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.

Walter Danforth Bliss (1874-1956) was an American architect from California. Many of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Crocker (businessman)</span>

George Crocker was an American businessman. A member of Tuller & Co., he was also a director of several corporations, including Trust Company of America. He was second vice president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1909, Crocker was valued between $10 million to $20 million. The 75-room, three-story Crocker Mansion was built in 1907 for Crocker in Mahwah, New Jersey, and is one of New Jersey's historical landmarks.

Edwin Sheldon Whitehouse was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Minister to Guatemala and U.S. Minister to Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lang Southern Pacific Station</span> Historic site in Los Angeles County, California

Lang Southern Pacific Station is a former Southern Pacific railway station located in Soledad Canyon near the eastern end of Santa Clarita, California. On September 5, 1876, the first railway to Los Angeles was completed at this site. The Lang Southern Pacific Station was designated a California Historic Landmark on May 22, 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells Fargo (1852–1998)</span> Former American banking company

Wells Fargo was an American banking company based in San Francisco, California, that was acquired by Norwest Corporation in 1998. During the California Gold Rush in early 1848 at Sutter's Mill near Coloma, California, financiers and entrepreneurs from all over North America and the world flocked to California, drawn by the promise of huge profits. Vermont native Henry Wells and New Yorker William G. Fargo watched the California economy boom with keen interest. Before either Wells or Fargo could pursue opportunities offered in the Western United States, however, they had business to attend to in the Eastern United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary. Charles Crocker". The New York Times . August 15, 1888. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "People & Events: Edwin Bryant Crocker (1818-1875)". Public Broadcasting Service. 1999–2003. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Home|Verdi History". Verdi History Preservation Society, Inc. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Crocker Mansions Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Charles Crocker", The West', PBS-WETA
  6. ↑ "Deming, NM (DEM)". Great American Stations. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  7. ↑ "CHL # 590 Lang Southern Pacific Station Los Angeles". www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  8. ↑ Fradkin, Philip L. (2002). Stage Coach, The History of Wells Fargo. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-0-7432-2762-9.
  9. ↑ "Banking: The Urge to Unrmerge". Time. August 27, 1965. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  10. ↑ Furlong, Tom; Feb. 8 (February 8, 1986). "Crocker Takeover Left Him Behind : Executive Out in the Cold in Surprise Wells Fargo Deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Wells Fargo to acquire Crocker National Corp". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 8, 1986. p. 12C.
  12. ↑ "Wells Fargo acquires Crocker". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 30, 1986. p. 16.
  13. ↑ Rosse, Jake. "The Man Who Built a 40-Foot Spite Fence Around His Neighbor's Home". Pocket worthy: Stories to fuel your mind. Mental Floss . Retrieved May 2, 2020. When Nicholas Yung wouldn't sell his land to railroad baron Charles Crocker, Crocker built a 40-foot fence around his house and blotted out the sun.
  14. ↑ "History". Grace Cathedral. March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Home". Mary A. Crocker. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Charles Crocker's Will". The New York Times. August 30, 1888. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ "C. F. Crocker Dead. Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Expires in San Mateo, California". The New York Times. July 18, 1897. Retrieved February 9, 2010. Col. Charles F. Crocker, Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Company, died at his home here to-night.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ "Clasped in the Arms of Death". San Francisco Call. Vol. 82, no. 48. July 18, 1897. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Geo. Crocker Dying, a Victim of Cancer; Long a Sufferer from the Same Disease That Killed His Wife in 1904. Call His Brother Home - William H. Crocker Hastens from Europe -- $6,000,000 Inheritance Won By Five Years' Fight Against Drink". The New York Times. New York City, New York. November 17, 1909. Retrieved April 14, 2017.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  20. ↑ "George Crocker Dies of Cancer". The New York Times. New York City, New York. December 5, 1909. p. 13. Retrieved April 14, 2017.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  21. ↑ "Merced County Sun 10 December 1909 — California Digital Newspaper Collection : GEO. CROCKER IS DEAD IN NEW YORK". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  22. ↑ "MISS ALEXANDER TO WED S. WHITEHOUSE; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Alexander Engaged to Diplomatist. FIANCEE NOW IN EUROPE Mr. Whitehouse Is Chief of the New Eastern Division, Department of State". The New York Times. July 30, 1920. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  23. ↑ Lawrence Kestenbaum. "Index to Politicians: Whitehouse". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  24. 1 2 "W. H. Crocker Dies, Banker On Coast". The New York Times. September 26, 1937. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Thrown from His Wagon.; Millionaire Crocker Seriously Hurt While Driving". The New York Times. April 21, 1886. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Charles Crocker Dying". The New York Times. August 12, 1888. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Crocker Monument". Mausoleums.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  28. ↑ "The Tombs of Charles Crocker etal". Central Pacific RR Photographic Museum.
  29. ↑ "For May Day, Remembering Vincent St. John". LaborStandard.org. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2007. Use "Crocker" as the search text.
  30. ↑ "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting : Crocker, Charles, 1822-1888". research.frick.org. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Crocker, Noted Scientist, Dies In Home At SF". Madera Tribune. No. 113. U.P. December 13, 1948. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Mary Whitehouse, 90, Leader of Civic Groups". The New York Times. January 24, 1986. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  33. 1 2 Lewis, Paul (July 1, 2001). "Charles S. Whitehouse, 79, Diplomat and C.I.A. Official". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  34. ↑ Erwin G. Gudde, California Place Names, University of California Press, 1969, ISBN   9780520266193, page 96.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.