William Whitney Stow
PLOT 33, Lot 3738
William W. Stow (1824-1895) was a native of Binghamton, New York, where he was raised on a farm. He graduated from Hamilton College and moved to California when he was 28-years-old. He married the former Ann Eliza Patterson and they had six children.
He settled in Santa Cruz County and grew lemons. Two years later he ran for the California Assembly and served two terms. In 1855, he became the Speaker of the California Assembly. A year later, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for Governor on the Know-Nothing ticket. Stow made headlines as Assembly Speaker when he railed against Jews from the floor and even proposed a tax on Jews that ''would act as a prohibition to their residence amongst us.'' Stow’s outburst was a reaction against Louis Schwartz, a resident of Santa Cruz, who had opened businesses. Stow’s goal was to discourage Jews from moving to California.
California newspapers blasted Stow’s anti-Semitism and San Francisco attorney Henry Labatt published a letter to the Assembly leader in the April 7, 1855 issue of the Los Angeles Star. Despite the uproar from the Jewish community and citizens around the state, another law passed in 1858 after Stow’s departure from the Assembly banning stores from opening on Sundays, a law aimed at Jewish businesses.
Around 1856, he quit his political career and moved to San Francisco. Stow became a partner in the law firm Patterson, Wallace & Stow, which handled primarily land use issues. Despite having what some claimed was the largest law firm in California, he dissolved the practice and accepted a lucrative job with the railroads.
From 1878-1893, Stow made a name for himself as the political “strong arm” and attorney for Collis P. Huntington and the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad. Stow was primarily responsible for the Southern Pacific’s ability to build the railways through his ability to raise massive amounts of financing and gain political favors. His skills as an attorney allowed him to manipulate the complex legal hurdles facing the railroads. Stow became Huntington’s key strategist in California, while issues in Nevada were left to Mountain View Cemetery denizen Stephen Gage. (http://mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com/2008/01/stephen-t-gage-powerful-railroad.html)
The San Francisco Chronicle in its obituary said, “Stow was one of the ablest and one of the shrewdest manipulators of men which the peculiar political conditions of this State have ever developed.” They went on to say that for twenty years there wasn’t a session of the Legislature which Stow didn’t dominate.
In 1889, he was appointed to the San Francisco Park Commission and immediately began complaining about the lack of funds for Golden Gate Park. Ironically, when he was Assembly Speaker, he had cut funding for the park in half. In 1893, a lake at Golden Gate Park was named after Stow, who then convinced Huntington to pay $25,000 for a waterfall that still pours into the lake and is named after the railroad baron. That same year, he retired from the railroad to focus his attention on his duties as a park commissioner. His main reason for leaving the railroad was an ongoing feud with Charles Crocker.
In 1890, Stow showed his skills as a political operative while helping Leland Stanford in his re-election campaign for the United States Senate. Stanford was politically wounded by a very public feud with Huntington, which was regular fodder for the newspapers. He was also being dragged down by the unpopularity of William McKinley and the Republicans, primarily over the issue of tariffs, which Stanford supported. Stow insisted that Stanford return early from a trip to Europe and to re-engage the public on the campaign trail. Thanks to Stow’s tenacity, Stanford was re-elected.
Stow died at his San Francisco office while being tended to by a doctor and Assemblyman G.W. Dixon. Reportedly, his last words were a request for a carriage to take him home and an acknowledgment of the time. Before dying he had complained of severe stomach pains. His cause of death was listed as apoplexy.
His obituary in the San Francisco Call dubbed him the “greatest political manager that California has ever known.” His estate was estimated at $3 million at the time of his death.
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Source: mountainviewpeople.blogspot.com
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. ​
Rapid Rise of a Farmer to a Millionaire Politician.
W. W. Stow was born in Binghampton, Broome County, New York, September 13, 1824. He graduated from Hamilton College and was admitted to the Supreme Court of New York. He practiced law thereuntil 1849, when he started for this State. He reached here in 1852 and settled in Santa Cruz County as a farmer, renting places near Watsonville in the Pajaro Valley.
He was elected to the Legislature in 1853 as an independent candidate. He was a Whig, and though the county was then Democratic he was re-elected to the Assembly in 1854. In 1855 he was chosen Speaker of the House. He then retired from politics. However, July 25, 1854, he was a candidate before the Whig convention for congressional nomination, but before a vote was taken his name was withdrawn. On August 8, 1855, he was a candidate before the American State convention for the office of Governor, but was defeated by J. Neely Johnson.
Mr. Stow then opened a law office in San Francisco, and was associated with Harvey S. Brown for a time. He soon obtained a large practice, especially in land cases. In 1858 he was joined by his wife's brother, W. H. Patterson, who came from Elmira, N. Y. For a time the firm was known as Stow & Patterson. In 1863 W. T. Wallace, now Superior Judge of this city, joined the firm, but in 1863 he withdrew. Stow then became prominently identified with the Central Pacific Railroad Company. However, in the earlier sixties Stow laid the foundation of his fortune by purchasing lands in the southern part of the State, principally in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, where two of his sons now are. The Laguna rancho he bought outright. He also purchased a claim to the Corral del Piedra, and by his knowledge of law and shrewdness achieved a victory, out of which he cleared about $200,000. Other similar investments netted him good returns.
From 1870 Mr. Stow became the ruler of the State in a certain political way. He was the agent of the railroad company and was admitted to be the ablest politician known in California. During the past six years he has devoted his time principally to Golden Gate Park.
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San Francisco Call, Volume 77,
Number 64, 12 February 1895
DEVOTED TO THE PARK
His Influence There Was Great and Lasting. Mr. Stow's one public interest from a purely unselfish standpoint was in Golden Gate Park. The pride and the ambition of the man of the world that transcended his home and the political and business labors of practical life found there a worthy place for concentration. No citizen of San Francisco was more proud of the great pleasure ground; none had greater dreams of its future and none were more keenly interested in its development. It nurtured his better nature. As one of his friends said yesterday, "He beautified the park and the park beautified him." It was as Park Commissioner that he largely won his claim on the public for honorable and kindly remembrance.
Much of the present beauty of Golden Gate Park is due to his connection with it since September 18, 1889, who he received his first appointment. Much of the liberal support it has received, the progressive policy that has marked its management and the large plans for its future that have been outlined are also to be credited to him.
While he has been concerned with all Park measures, there have been some things in which he has been especially interested and which may be mainly the result of his ideas and his efforts. The improvement of Strawberry Hill, with its Huntington waterfall, Stow Lake and the roads, bridges, boats and other things that have wonderfully beautified what was recently a waste, are especially monuments to Mr. Stow. It was because Commissioner Stow had beer dreaming of what the naked hill and its sandy surroundings might be that C. P. Huntington gave $25,000 for the falls three years ago. While the magnate was here on one of his trips Mr. Stow managed to take Mr. and Mrs. Huntington out to the park for a drive, and when out there the Commissioner described enthusiastically the beauty that might be, and in the middle of his picture was the cataract wich the board could not hope to build with their own resources. The result was that C. P. Huntington gave the $25,000 that Stow wanted, and in time the cataract began to pour its waters over rocks and past tangled vines.
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Stow Lake was on of his park dreams that the deceased saw realized. He wanted a large and picturesque lake to surround the hill, and the raising of a bed for it fifty feet in air and its subsequent adornment were the result of Stow's engineering, business and artistic ideas. The speed track and other things that make driving in the park so keen a pleasure to so many were matters that Mr. Stow paid especial attention to. The new music-stand may be mentioned as another thing to which he gave a very large Share of his interest and attention. | But the forestry of the park inspired Mr. Stow's brightest dreams. His interest in that was tireless, and he ransacked the world for practical information with which to regulate his dreams. The plan of making the southern and western portions of park a forest was his own. It was mainly due to his efforts that the project of bringing trainloads of I soil to the sand dunes was fairly started recently, and each live oak which "is dug up by the roots in San Mateo County and transplanted in the park will be a monument to him. The idea that many young live oaks should be brought to park to* grow old" in their picturesque beauty and add a touch of characteristic California landscape to the scene was one of his latest and brightest dreams.
For years the deceased had been to the park almost daily. He was a lover of fine horses and his enjoyment of the drives was heightened by the pride he took in every acre of the park.
"Golden Gate Park was his chief pride and pleasure," said Frank McCoppin yesterday. - ''He loved it better every day, and while he beautified the park it beautified him. He did much for the park. He educated the public to what they needed and wanted without their knowing it. The last few years of his life were practically dedicated to it, and I consider him one of the greatest Park Commissioners the city has had. His influence was a benefit to the park in getting liberal appropriations for it, as well as in other ways.
"Stow was a manly straightforward man. He never minced "matters and his word was as good as his bond, in politics or out of it. He always showed his colors."
The vacancy in the Board of Park Commissioners will not be filled by the Governor, as many people think. The unexpired term will, according to law, be filled by the remaining Commissioners.
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San Francisco Call, Volume 77,
Number 64, 12 February 1895
San Francisco as it was
The park abounds in lakes, all artificial. Stow Lake is the most important and is a blended triumph of engineer’s skill and landscape gardener’s art. The idea of the lake and the beautiful Huntington Falls was conceived by W. W. Stow, a former park commissioner. He enlisted the financial support of the late Collis P. Huntington in the carrying out of his plan. So skilfully have art and nature been mingled that the former is difficult to deteft. The lake surrounds the base of Strawberry Hill. A driveway, from which are obtained beautiful views of the park, glimpses of the Marin County hills and of the distant ocean, winds around the lake, and there are walks on both sides. The lake can be crossed by either of two bridges, continuing the drive or walk to the top of the hill. This was once crowned by an observatory in the form of a coliseum, the gift of a former citizen, Thomas U. Sweeny. The structure was of concrete. Its upper gallery, sheltered by glass, afforded a splendid panoramic view of the city, the Golden Gate, the western sand-dunes and the ocean, embracing the Farallone Islands, twenty-seven miles away, if the day were clear. Now a few ruined walls bear witness to the severity of the earthquake of April 18, 1906. Just at this point the shock was peculiarly strong. The wire cables reinforcing the concrete were snapped in two like rope. Lacking the additional height of the observatory, the view is at present only obtained in glimpses through the trees. Nevertheless, on a clear day one is well repaid for walking or driving up the hill. On Sundays and holidays Huntington Falls dashes in a series of cascades down the side of the hill into the lake. A bridge crosses the falls near the summit and is a fine vantage point from which to view the rushing water.
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Rocky islands clothed with trees and shrubbery add to the beauty of the lake, and are breeding places for swan and other waterfowl, all so tame that they will come to the shore and eat from one's hand.
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Near the Roman bridge on the northern side of the lake is a boathouse where rowboats may be obtained. The lake is quite large enough, and the scenery about it quite attractive enough, to make a row around it worth while. There is also a pier where disciples of Izaak Walton may match their skill in Ay-casting.
Stow Lake is also the central source of the park's irrigation system. It has a capacity of 25,000,000 gallons of water.
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From the roadway around the hill, near the Roman bridge, a fine view of prayer book cross may be obtained. (This cross is described under Monuments).
Northwest of Stow Lake, a little beyond the eminence on which stands the prayer book cross, just at the right of the Main it. Nesting amidst thres and sin urer of on of en banks stands the classic doorway of the A. N. Towne residence which once crowned Nob Hill. The fire of April, 1906, left only a bit of wall and this picturesque relic.
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San Francisco as it was, as it is, and how to see it
by Purdy, Helen Throop; Paul Elder and Company, publisher. 1912
Descendants of the Stow clan, S.F.'s Peggy (Mrs. Joseph) Seligman Jr., her sister, Maria Eland of Washington, D.C., and her brother, Garrett Van Horne, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic Stow House, located near Santa Barbara in the Goleta valley tonight. The occasion will be marked with a "dress 1872-style" dinner at the house, currently operating as a museum under the auspices of the local Goleta Historic Society.
The latter-day Stows gave the property to Santa Barbara County several years ago, but Mr. Van Horne still lives on the property in another house.
Other locals attending the affair include S.F.'s Ashfield Stow and Mrs. Charles Kee-ney of Piedmont.
The late William Whitney Stow of San Francisco, who was chief counsel for Southern Pacific railroad, which controlled California politics for 50 years, built the house on 1043 acres a century ago.
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The San Francisco Examiner - Fri - Nov. 17, 1972
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Pic of Stow house: Santa Barbara News Press
- Thu - Nov. 23, 1950
Vanderlynn Stow, son
Twice president of the Bohemian Club, and at all times prominent in business affairs and in all matters pertaining to the financial, artistic and musical progress of San Francisco, Vanderlynn Stow will be very much missed. His funeral occurred on Monday from the Stow home on Broadway. "Van" Stow was one of the early members of the Loring Club and took an energetic interest in its concerts. He always put a lot of energy into everything he undertook. His father, the late W. W. Stow, after whom Stow Lake was named, was Senator Leland Stanford's right hand man, and Vanderlynn Stow took up the work of business managing Stanford University with his other large undertakings. He was a co-student at Harvard with ex-President Theodore Roosevelt
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WASP Magazine (July-Dec.) 1919