Charles Frederick Crocker

Charles Frederick Crocker
Charles Frederick Crocker; illustration taken from San Francisco Call, July 18, 1897
Crocker; illustration taken from San Francisco Call, July 18, 1897
Born (1854-12-26)December 26, 1854
Sacramento, California
Died July 17, 1897(1897-07-17) (aged 42)
San Mateo, California
Occupation Railroad leader
Spouse(s) Jennie Mills Easton (1858–1887)
Children Mary Crocker (1881–1905)
Charles Templeton Crocker (1884–1948)
Jennie Adeline Crocker (1887–1974)

Charles Frederick Crocker (December 26, 1854 – July 17, 1897) was vice president of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company.[1][2]

Biography

He was born in Sacramento on December 26, 1854, the eldest son of Mary Ann and Charles Crocker.[1][2] He was educated in Sacramento public schools, later attending McClure's Academy in Oakland for two years (1872-3) and the Brooklyn Polytechnic School (1875), but did not graduate as a result of poor eyesight.[2]

After taking a trip to Japan, Crocker entered the family railroad business at the age of 22 as a clerk in the Fourth and Townsend Streets office of Southern Pacific.[2] When George C. Perkins was elected Governor in 1879, he appointed Crocker as a Colonel in the National Guard.[2] By 1888, Crocker was president of the San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada Railroad.[3]

Crocker purchased the 'Uplands' estate (then part of San Mateo and later incorporated into Hillsborough) from William Henry Howard in 1894.[4] Crocker died at 'Uplands' on July 17, 1897, from complications of Bright's Disease following a brief, acute paralysis.[2] His wife, the former Jennie Marine Easton, had died during the birth of their third child.[2]

Legacy

Crocker was survived by three children: Mary Crocker (who would later marry the congressman Francis Burton Harrison), Charles Templeton Crocker (who became a noted scientist),[5] and Jennie Adeline Crocker.

Crocker was notably active in public affairs, serving as one of the Regents of the University of California (appointed in 1888 by Governor Waterman), as president of the California Academy of Sciences, and as a trustee of Stanford University.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "C. F. Crocker Dead. Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Expires in San Mateo, California". The New York Times. July 18, 1897. Retrieved 2010-02-09. Col. Charles F. Crocker, Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Company, died at his home here to-night. (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Clasped in the Arms of Death". San Francisco Call. 82 (48). 18 July 1897. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. ↑ The Official Railway List. Chicago: Railway Purchasing Agent Company. 1888. p. 174.
  4. ↑ garrison, Joanne. "Jennie M. Easton, daughter of Ansel I. and Adeline Easton". Peninsula Royalty: The Founding Families of Burlingame-Hillsborough. Burlingame Historical Society. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Crocker, Noted Scientist, Dies In Home At SF". Madera Tribune (113). U.P. 13 December 1948. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
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