William F. Herrin
| William F. Herrin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1854 |
| Died | 1927 |
| Residence |
2530 Broadway Street Pacific Heights Sam Francisco California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation |
Lawyer Businessman Banker Real estate developer |
William F. Herrin (1854–1927) was an American lawyer, businessman, banker and real estate developer.
Biography
Early life
He was born in 1854.[1]
Career
He assisted William Sharon (1821-1885) in his acrimonious divorce from his wife Sarah.[2] He subsequently became Chief Counsel for the Sharon estate and the Spring Valley Company.[2] Later, he served as Chief Counsel of the Southern Pacific Railroad, where he was critical of government overregulations.[2][3][4] He allegedly nominated gubernatorial candidates, supreme court justices, and appellate court judges.[5] In 1908, in the San Francisco Call, James W. Rea, a former associate, accused him and Jere Burke of corruption over bonds of the San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban Railroad Company.[5]
In 1900, together with Burton E. Green (1868-1965), Charles A. Canfield (1848-1913), Max Whittier (1867–1928), Frank H. Buck (1887-1942), Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927), William G. Kerckhoff (1856–1929), W.S. Porter and Frank H. Balch, known as the Amalgated Oil Company, he purchased Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas from Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker and renamed it Morocco Junction.[6] After drilling for oil and only finding water, they reorganized their business into the Rodeo Land and Water Company to develop a new residential town later known as Beverly Hills, California.[6]
He served on the Board of Directors of Wells Fargo from 1904 to 1918.[7] From 1904 to 1906, he worked with John Muir to convince Congress to include the Yosemite Valley as part of the Yosemite National Park.[8] He was a member of the Bohemian Club and the Committee of Fifty (1906).[9]
Personal life
He resided at 2530 Broadway at Scott Street in San Francisco, California, in a house designed by architect Julius E. Krafft.[10]
Death
He died in 1927.[1]
Primary sources
- William F. Herrin, Public duties of educated men : an address (Oregon Agricultural College, June 14, 1919) Available at: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006557205
- William F. Herrin, Government Regulation of Railways, 2 California Law Review 87 (1914). Available at: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol2/iss2/1
References
- 1 2 WorldCat
- 1 2 3 Michael J. Makley, The Infamous King of the Comstock: William Sharon And the Gilded Age in the West, Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 2006,
- ↑ University of the Pacific Library: Mrs. Herrin, John Muir, William F. Herrin
- ↑ Don L. Hofsommer, The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985, College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2009, p. 54
- 1 2 Daniella Thompson, Railroad ‘lobster’ controlled state politics for a decade, Berkeley Daily Planet, February 18, 2010
- 1 2 Marc Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-18
- ↑ Philip L. Fradkin, Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West, Simon and Schuster, 2002, p. 163
- ↑ Eric Rapps, A Golden Myth: The Truth Behind California's Gold Rush, Appalachian State University: History Matters
- ↑ Bohemian Club Constitution, 1904
- ↑ Berkeley Heritage