Charles Crocker
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Charles Crocker (September 16 1822-June 14 1888) was born in Troy, New York to a modest family. After his family moved to a farm in Iowa, Crocker soon became independent, working on several farms, a sawmill, and at an iron forge. In 1845 he founded a small, independent iron forge of his own. After hearing of the California Gold Rush, Crocker led a party of Forty-niners overland to the Pacific coast, and arrived in 1850. After 2 years of disappointed mining, he opened a dry goods shop in Sacramento.
In 1861, after hearing a very intriguing presentation by Theodore Judah, he was one of the four principal investors along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford who formed the Central Pacific Railroad, which became 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 CP subsidiary founded expressly for the purpose of building the railroad.
Charles Crocker also acquired controlling interest in Woolworth National Bank for his son William. It was later named Crocker National Bank. The San Francisco, California based bank no longer exists and was purchased by Wells Fargo Bank in 1986.
Crocker is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.
References
- Findagrave.com, [Charles Crocker]. Retrieved December 13 2005.
| Central Pacific Railroad | The Big Four | Charles Crocker | Mark Hopkins | Collis P. Huntington | Leland Stanford |
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