Charles Crocker

For the younger railroad magnate, see Charles Frederick Crocker.

Charles Crocker
c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw
Born	(1822-09-16)September 16, 1822 Troy, New York, U.S.
Died	August 14, 1888(1888-08-14) (aged 65) Monterey, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Ann Deming ​ ​ (m. 1852; died 1887)​
Children	6, 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.

Early years

Crocker was born in Troy, New York on September 16, 1822. 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.

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.

Founding a railroad

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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. 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 and later, Crocker National Bank. The San Francisco-based bank no longer exists, as it was acquired by Wells Fargo in 1986.

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. In 1910, in the same plot where the fence stood, the cornerstone was laid for Grace Cathedral.

Personal life

Painting of Crocker's daughter, Harriet, by Giovanni Boldini, 1887

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

• Charles Frederick Crocker (1854–1897), who married Jennie Ella Easton (1858–1887).
• George Crocker (1856–1909), who married Emma Hanchett (1855–1904).
• Harriet Valentine Crocker (1859–1935), who married Charles Beatty Alexander (1849–1927).
• William Henry Crocker (1861–1937), who married Ethel Sperry (1861–1934).

Crocker was seriously injured in a New York City carriage accident in 1886, never fully recovered, and died two years later on August 14, 1888. He was buried in a mausoleum located on "Millionaire's Row" at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. The massive granite structure was designed by the New York architect A. Page Brown, who later designed the San Francisco Ferry Building. 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.

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).

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

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

Family tree

Crocker family tree

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 1827–90 Henry S. Crocker 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 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] [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 1849–1927 Jennie Easton 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 1887–1966 Charles Templeton Crocker 1884–1948 Janetta Alexander 1890–1973 Arnold Whitridge 1892–1989 Harry Crocker 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] Notes Sources "Crocker Family Tree". San Mateo County Historical Association.

Honors

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

See also

• Crocker family

External links

• Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.