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Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1885 until his death in 1893. Stanford and his wife Jane founded Stanford University, named after their late son.
Stanford became a successful merchant and wholesaler after migrating to California in 1852 during the gold rush; he built a business empire. Stanford was an influential executive of the Central Pacific Railroad and later of the Southern Pacific railroads from 1861 to 1890; these positions gave him tremendous power in the Western United States which left a lasting impact on California.[need quotation to verify][need quotation to verify][failed verification] Stanford also played a significant role as a shareholder and executive in the early history of Pacific Life and Wells Fargo. He was the first Republican governor of California. Stanford is widely considered a robber baron.
Leland Stanford was born in 1824 in what was then Watervliet, New York (now the Town of Colonie). He was one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. Among his siblings were New York State Senator Charles Stanford (1819–1885) and Australian businessman and spiritualist Thomas Welton Stanford (1832–1918). His ancestor, Thomas Stanford, settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 17th century. Later ancestors settled in the eastern Mohawk Valley of central New York about 1720.
Stanford's father was a farmer of some means. Stanford was raised on family farms in the Lisha Kill and Roessleville (after 1836) areas of Watervliet. The family home in Roessleville was called Elm Grove. The Elm Grove home was razed in the 1940s. Stanford attended the common school until 1836 and was tutored at home until 1839. He attended Clinton Liberal Institute, in Clinton, New York, and studied law at Cazenovia Seminary in Cazenovia, New York, in 1841 to 1845. In 1845, Stanford entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittle, and Hadley in Albany.
After being admitted to the bar in 1848, Stanford moved with many other settlers to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he began a law practice with Wesley Pierce. His father presented him with a law library said to be the finest north of Milwaukee. In 1850, Stanford was nominated by the Whig Party as Washington County, Wisconsin, district attorney.
In 1852, having lost his law library and other property to a fire, Stanford followed his five brothers to California during the California gold rush. His wife, Jane, returned (temporarily) to Albany and her family. Stanford went into business with his brothers and became the keeper of a general store for miners in Michigan City, California, later the name changed to Michigan Bluff in Placer County; later, he had a wholesale house. Stanford served as a justice of the peace and helped organize the Sacramento Library Association, which later became the Sacramento Public Library. In 1855, he returned to Albany to join his wife, but found the pace too slow after the excitement of developing California.
In 1856, Stanford and his wife moved to Sacramento, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits on a large scale. Stanford was one of the four merchants known popularly as "The Big Four" (or among themselves as "the Associates"), who were the key investors in Chief Engineer Theodore Dehone Judah's plan for the Central Pacific Railroad. The five of them incorporated it on June 28, 1861, and Stanford was elected as its president. The other three associates were Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington.
The Central Pacific's first locomotive, named Gov. Stanford in his honor, is preserved on static display at the California State Railroad Museum, in Sacramento.
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Leland Stanford
Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1885 until his death in 1893. Stanford and his wife Jane founded Stanford University, named after their late son.
Stanford became a successful merchant and wholesaler after migrating to California in 1852 during the gold rush; he built a business empire. Stanford was an influential executive of the Central Pacific Railroad and later of the Southern Pacific railroads from 1861 to 1890; these positions gave him tremendous power in the Western United States which left a lasting impact on California.[need quotation to verify][need quotation to verify][failed verification] Stanford also played a significant role as a shareholder and executive in the early history of Pacific Life and Wells Fargo. He was the first Republican governor of California. Stanford is widely considered a robber baron.
Leland Stanford was born in 1824 in what was then Watervliet, New York (now the Town of Colonie). He was one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. Among his siblings were New York State Senator Charles Stanford (1819–1885) and Australian businessman and spiritualist Thomas Welton Stanford (1832–1918). His ancestor, Thomas Stanford, settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 17th century. Later ancestors settled in the eastern Mohawk Valley of central New York about 1720.
Stanford's father was a farmer of some means. Stanford was raised on family farms in the Lisha Kill and Roessleville (after 1836) areas of Watervliet. The family home in Roessleville was called Elm Grove. The Elm Grove home was razed in the 1940s. Stanford attended the common school until 1836 and was tutored at home until 1839. He attended Clinton Liberal Institute, in Clinton, New York, and studied law at Cazenovia Seminary in Cazenovia, New York, in 1841 to 1845. In 1845, Stanford entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittle, and Hadley in Albany.
After being admitted to the bar in 1848, Stanford moved with many other settlers to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he began a law practice with Wesley Pierce. His father presented him with a law library said to be the finest north of Milwaukee. In 1850, Stanford was nominated by the Whig Party as Washington County, Wisconsin, district attorney.
In 1852, having lost his law library and other property to a fire, Stanford followed his five brothers to California during the California gold rush. His wife, Jane, returned (temporarily) to Albany and her family. Stanford went into business with his brothers and became the keeper of a general store for miners in Michigan City, California, later the name changed to Michigan Bluff in Placer County; later, he had a wholesale house. Stanford served as a justice of the peace and helped organize the Sacramento Library Association, which later became the Sacramento Public Library. In 1855, he returned to Albany to join his wife, but found the pace too slow after the excitement of developing California.
In 1856, Stanford and his wife moved to Sacramento, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits on a large scale. Stanford was one of the four merchants known popularly as "The Big Four" (or among themselves as "the Associates"), who were the key investors in Chief Engineer Theodore Dehone Judah's plan for the Central Pacific Railroad. The five of them incorporated it on June 28, 1861, and Stanford was elected as its president. The other three associates were Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington.
The Central Pacific's first locomotive, named Gov. Stanford in his honor, is preserved on static display at the California State Railroad Museum, in Sacramento.
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