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William Henry Crocker

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William Henry Crocker I (January 13, 1861 – September 25, 1937) was a member of the wealthy Crocker family and a prominent member of the Republican Party. Over the course of his business career, he became the president of Crocker National Bank.

William H. Crocker

Early life

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Crocker was born on January 19, 1861, in Sacramento, California.[1] His father, Charles Crocker (1822-1888), one of the "Big Four" railroad magnates, was the builder of the Central Pacific Railroad.[2]

His uncle, Edwin B. Crocker, a wealthy California lawyer and later California Supreme Court justice, and his wife, Margaret Crocker (née Norton) founded the oldest still operating museum of the Western United States in Sacramento, the Crocker Art Museum.

His nephew, Harry Crocker, was a movie star in the 1920s and, at one time, the personal assistant of Charlie Chaplin.

His cousin, Aimee Crocker, was a Bohemian mystic who garnered publicity for her extravagant parties in New York, San Francisco and Paris, for her five husbands and many lovers, for her tattoos, and for living 10 years in the Far East, not as a tourist, but as if a native.[3]

His cousin, Henry J. Crocker, was a prominent San Franciscan businessman and one of the Committee of Fifty, who got into a well documented public feud with William, eventually leading to a court ruling against him in his claim of having been defrauded by his own cousin.[4]

William attended Phillips Academy, Andover and Yale University, where he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter).

 
William H. Crocker's Queen Anne style mansion (1888), formerly at 1150 California Street, now the site of the Choir of Grace Cathedral

Career

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Crocker was president of Crocker National Bank. When much of the city of San Francisco was destroyed by the fire from the 1906 earthquake, Crocker and his bank were major forces in financing reconstruction.

Crocker also was a director of the Sperry Flour Co., the company of his wife's family owning a chain of flour mills across the US, a truly global conglomerate, with branches as far away as Hong-Kong and Norway.[5],[6],[7],[8]

Philanthropy

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Charles Crocker's Second Empire-Italian Villa style mansion (1877), formerly at the N.W. corner of California & Taylor, San Francisco, now the site of Grace Cathedral.

After the 1906 earthquake and fire had left both the adjacent mansions of W.H. Crocker and his father in ruins, in 1907 he donated the Crocker family's 2.6-acre (11,000 m2) Nob Hill block for Grace Cathedral.[9],[10]

He was a member of the University of California Board of Regents for nearly thirty years and funded the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory's million-volt x-ray tube at the UC hospital and the "medical" Crocker cyclotron used for neutron therapy at Berkeley.[11] In 1936, Crocker contributed $75,000 toward the building of a laboratory for Ernest O. Lawrence at the University of California, Berkeley, which was subsequently named "Crocker Radiation Laboratory" in his honor.[12] This laboratory became home to the Berkeley 60" cyclotron. In the 1960s, parts of this cyclotron were moved to the University of California, Davis, where they were the basis for the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory,[13] which inherited its name from the original.[14][15]

Crocker also chaired the Panama-Pacific Exposition Committee and SE Community Chest, and was a key member of the committee that built the San Francisco Opera House and Veterans Building. Crocker was the founder of Crocker Middle School located in Hillsborough, California. The Sacramento, California, home of Crocker's uncle, Edwin B. Crocker, was converted into the Crocker Art Museum, which was the first art museum to open in the West. [citation needed]

Art Collection

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Postcard showing the Crocker Mansion[10] destruction after San Francisco earthquake and Great Fire in 1906

During his lifetime William H. Crocker and his wife Ethel amassed a considerable collection of works of art.[16],[17]

One of the impressionist works they had acquired in 1894 was a painting by Claude Monet from his famous Haystacks series, "Meule, soir d'hiver", from 1899-1890 (W1217a) which was lost to eternity during the Great Fire following the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, as was most of the rest of their collection.[18]

Surviving items of Ethel's Egyptian and Byzantine textile collection were on loan to the San Francisco Museum of Art until 1953, when the collection was shipped to Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.[19],[20]

Philately

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The block of four of the 1869 24c United States stamps with inverted centre owned by Crocker (shown inverted).[21]

As his cousin, Henry J. Crocker, William H. Crocker was a noted philatelist and the owner of the unique block of four of the 1869 24c United States stamps with inverted centre formerly the property of William Thorne.[21][22]

The stamp collection survived because it was on tour abroad at the time.

Personal life

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Crocker was married to Ethel Sperry (1861–1934),[23] who become treasurer of the Woman’s Belgian Relief Fund in San Francisco and State Chair for The Woman’s Section of the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB), while William chaired the men's committee of the Belgian Relief Fund in San Francisco, who were to send the first 'State Ship', the SS Camino, with food aid, on 5 December 1914, over to the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which remained neutral during WWI. She was also the leading patron of French Impressionist art in California at that time.[24]

 
"New Place" (1910), William Henry Crocker house, 80 New Place Road, Hillsborough, California - hand-tinted slides by Frances Benjamin Johnston, digitized and added to the Library of Congress's online database.[25]

After the 1906 earthquake destroyed their San Francisco home, William relocated the family to a new home in Hillsborough (CA) in 1910.[26],[27] The grand estate was aptly named "New Place", now part of the Burlingame Country Club clubhouse.[28],[23] The buildings were designed by Lewis P. Hobart, the lavish gardens by Bruce Potter. Some of the fragile original lantern slides on glass of the property by Frances Benjamin Johnston, an artist of the era, have survived to this day.[25]

Children

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Together, William and Ethel were the parents of four children:[29]

  • Ethel Mary Crocker (1891–1964), who married French (former) Count André de Limur in 1918, who gave William and Ethel their first grand-daughter.[30][31]
  • William Willard Crocker (1893–1964), who married Ruth Hobart, daughter of playboy Walter Hobart and granddaughter of the Comstock silver millionaire Walter S. Hobart, in 1923. They divorced in 1948 and he married Gertrude (née Hopkins) Parrott, former wife of William G. Parrott. After her death in 1958, he married Elizabeth (née Fullerton) Coleman, former wife of George L. Coleman, in 1960. After his death, she married Alexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester.
  • Helen Crocker (1897–1966), who married Henry Potter Russell, a son of Charles Howland Russell who was previously married to Ethel Borden Harriman.
  • Charles Crocker (1904–1961), who married Virginia Bennett in 1926. They divorced and he married Marguerite Brokaw, a daughter of Howard Crosby Brokaw, in 1938. After his death, she married Charles Norton Adams.

William Crocker died on September 25, 1937, at his home in Hillsborough, California.[1]

Descendants

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His grandson, also named William, is a retired anthropologist who worked at the Smithsonian Institution specializing in Canela Indians of Brazil.[32],[33]

Legacy

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The public middle school in Hillsborough, California, is named after him, Crocker Middle School.

Family tree

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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[a]
1827–90		Henry S. Crocker[b][c]
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[d][e]
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][f][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[g]
1849–1927
Jennie Easton[h]
1858–87		Charles Frederick Crocker
1854–97		Francis Crocker
1858–62		Ethel Sperry
1861–1934		William Henry Crocker[34]
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[i]
1887–1966		Charles Templeton Crocker
1884–1948		Janetta Alexander
1890–1973		Arnold Whitridge
1892–1989		Harry Crocker[e]
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][j]
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. ^ a b 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
  • "Crocker Family Tree". San Mateo County Historical Association.


References

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  1. ^ a b "W. H. Crocker Dies, Banker On Coast". New York Times. 26 September 1937. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Charles Crocker".
  3. ^ "Who Is Aimée Isabella Crocker?". Aimée Crocker. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  4. ^ "Press Democrat 22 May 1902 — California Digital Newspaper Collection : HAS A FALLING OUT, Suit Brought by H. Crocker Against His Cousin - Claims That William H Crocker Conspired Against Him With Intent to Defraud". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  5. ^ "Sperry Mills – American Indian – California – Decorated Flour Sacks from WW I" (in Dutch and English). 2022-12-31. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  6. ^ "Then & Now Gallery: Sperry Flour Mill - July 9, 2023 | The Spokesman-Review". Spokesman.com. 2023-07-09. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  7. ^ "The Sperry Flour Company in Hong Kong – The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group". industrialhistoryhk.org. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  8. ^ Merlo, Phillip (2020-04-17). "Stockton's China Trade and Sperry's Global Empire | Soundings Magazine". Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  9. ^ "Plan Your Visit". Grace Cathedral. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  10. ^ a b "Crocker Mansions Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  11. ^ J. L. Heilbron and Robert W. Seidel, Lawrence and His Laboratory (Berkeley: University of California, 1989)
  12. ^ Heilbron, J. L.; Seidel, Robert W. (January 1989). Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Volume I, p.207-211. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520064263. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  13. ^ "Crocker Nuclear Laboratory :: Home". Crocker.UCDavis.edu. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  14. ^ "A Cyclotron's Story". The New York Times. 12 May 1987. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  15. ^ "Building the Cyclotron". Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting : Crocker, William H. (William Henry)". research.frick.org. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  17. ^ "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting : Crocker, Ethel Speny". research.frick.org. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  18. ^ Daniel Wildenstein (1996). Monet: Catalogue raisonné - Werkverzeichnis, Volume III: Nos. 969–1595. Wildenstein Institute & Taschen. p. 463. ISBN 3-8228-8759-5.
  19. ^ lainw. "Tunic Fragments". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  20. ^ lainw. "Catalogue search : Crocker". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  21. ^ a b Williams, L.N. & M. (1949) Stamps of Fame. London: Blandford Press. p. 210.
  22. ^ United States Stamp Treasures: The William H. Gross Collection. Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, New York, 2018. pp. 196-201. Archived here.
  23. ^ a b "Crocker, Ethel". The San Mateo County Historical Association - Online Collections Database. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  24. ^ Cariaga, Daniel, "Not Taking It with You: A Tale of Two Estates", Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1985, accessed April 2012.
  25. ^ a b "Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection: Lantern Slides for Garden & Historic House Lectures (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  26. ^ "Waterhouse (Clark B.) Photograph Collection : search William H. Crocker". Calisphere. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  27. ^ "Online Archive of California - Clark B. Waterhouse Photograph Collection - search : William H. Crocker". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  28. ^ Dowd, Katie (April 5, 2017). "Rare color slides show the Bay Area's grandest homes at the turn of the century". www.sfgate.com.
  29. ^ "William Henry Crocker". geni_family_tree. 1861-01-13. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  30. ^ "MRS. ANDRE DE LIMUR, WIFE OF AN EX-COUNT". The New York Times. 1964-07-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  31. ^ "San Francisco Call 16 September 1920 — California Digital Newspaper Collection : William H. Crocker Hailed As Grand Dad". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  32. ^ "Smithsonian Research". Anthropology.si.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  33. ^ "William Henry Crocker papers | Collection: NAA.1975-15". sova.si.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  34. ^ https://www.geni.com/people/William-Henry-Crocker/6000000014385145399

Further reading

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  • Catalogue of the William H. Crocker collection of postage stamps (1938), Harmer, Rooke and Company, Ltd, London
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