San Luis Obispo County Biographies

WILLIAM L. BEEBEE

Submitted by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

WILLIAM L. BEEBEE.� Of the pioneers who came to California before the 
advent of the gold-seekers, but few remain to tell the tale of that interesting 
period when the western coast of the American continent was to most people 
an unknown land, yet one is occasionally met with here and there throughout 
the State, and, indeed, rarely one may yet be found in business and mercantile 
pursuits. An example in point is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, 
who has been, since the pioneer days, one of the most prominent figures of 
commercial circles in this entire region. A brief resume of some of the salient 
features in his life therefore becomes valuable and indeed essential in a volume 
of this nature. He is a native of Oswego, New York, born November 21, 1829, his 
parents being William L. and Mary (Douglas) Beebee, both of whom were natives 
of New York, the mother born in Onondaga County and the father probably in 
New York city. The latter was a merchant by vocation, who, in 1834, removed with 
his family to Cleveland, Ohio, where he contracted malaria, with results which 
proved fatal about a year after his arrival there. His widow, with her  family, 
consisting of our subject, a younger brother and a sister, then went back to New 
York to live with her father. They resided at Auburn and at Skaneateles, but most of 
the time at the former town, and in these places William L. Beebee was reared to his 
fourteenth year. The Beebees of New York and Philadelphia, bullion and stock brokers 
� one of whom, Samuel J., was the founder of the New York Merchants' Exchange � 
were half-brothers of his father, and the lad of fourteen went to the Quaker City to 
commence a business career in their office in that city. 

He remained with them about two years in this office in the two cities, and then an 
event occurred that changed the whole trend of his life. Among the appointments made 
by James K. Polk after his accession to the Presidential chair, was that of William G. 
Morehouse as consul to Valparaiso; and, having an opportunity to accompany that 
gentleman to the scene of his labors, our subject, who was by no means averse to a little 
adventure, readily availed himself of the chance, his uncle providing for his comfort and 
convenience on the trip as far as possible. In November, 1846, he sailed on the bark 
Hortensia, from Baltimore, her expected route being to the South American city by way of 
Cape Horn, and his fellow passenger, besides Consul Morehouse and his wife and child, 
being Henry D. Cook, who afterwards became Governor of Washington under President 
Grant, and two young Californians. The bark proceeded on her journey without 
an especially noteworthy incident until about the latitude of the Bermudas, when she  
encountered a terrific storm, and was tossed about at its mercy for six days � days of 
ceaseless agony to those on board. When at last the war ol' the elements abated, the 
vessel was found to be off the northeast of the Bermudas. The storm had played sad havoc 
with the bark, which was left without masts, her deck swept away of everything and with a 
hole in her bow, a condition of things which called for prompt action to insure her reaching 
a port in safety. They rigged up a jury mast, and the nearest land they could reach 
in their condition with the prevailing winds was the Island of St. Thomas, in the "West 
Indies. The vessel's head was turned in that direction, and the island reached in 
safety. There the passengers learned for the first time that the British had a regular line 
of steamers plying between Southampton and Chagres, while on the Paeitie side a 
connecting line furnished steam transportation between Panama and Valparaiso. Singularly 
enough, the fact did not seem to be known at that time either to the United States 
Government or the merchants of New York engaged in the foreign trade, a condition of 
ignorance as surprising as it seems to have been complete. 

At the island of St. Thomas a little Boston pilot boat was chartered, and the party 
proceeded to Chagres, availing themselves of the information thus fortunately gained. 
The trip from Chagres to Panama occupied about a week, the distance from Chagres to 
Gorgona being accomplished by poling up the Chagres River, where they hired mules and 
rode to Panama. After waiting about ten days at that place they took passage on the 
regular steamer for Valparaiso, which was reached without special incident. Young 
Beebee found the city full of life and business, but after looking around a good deal saw 
that there was nothing there in the way of employment or business opportunities to suit 
him, though he could easily have obtained situations at office work had he so desired. 
However, he spent some live or six months in Caili, principally in Valparaiso, though 
visiting occasionally Santiago and other places. 

While in South America the war of the United States with Mexico was probably the 
principal event engrossing the attention of the world, and our subject was not lacking in 
appreciation of the opportunities which in the future would be afforded by that portion 
of the old possessions of Mexico known as California. One day there appeared in the port 
Valparaiso the United States storeship Southampton, whose officers included among their 
number Lieutenant Commander Thornton and Executive Officer Worden, afterward the 
world-renowned commander of the Monitor. Young Beebee, who made his headquarters 
about the American Consulate, there met and formed the acquaintance of the officers of the 
Southampton, who, when they learned that he was not exactly satisfied with his stay in 
the Chilean City, asked him to accompany them on their cruise to California as a passenger. 
Of this opportunity he was not slow to avail himself, a visit to that comparatively unknown 
land having just the tinge of adventure that suited his disposition. On the way he became
 sufficiently acquainted with Executive Officer Worden to learn that that gentleman was 
very much disgusted with seafaring life, indeed, so much so that it did not then seem he 
would be in the service when the time came for him to achieve never-dying fame by his 
prominent connection with the naval duel between the Monitor and the Merrimac, which 
revolutionized the naval warfare and the service of naval architecture. 

On the Southampton there was besides Mr. Beebee but another passenger, G. D. Brewer- 
ton, a lieutenant in Stevenson's New York Regiment, which, by the way, was enroute just 
ahead of them. August 25, 1847, the vessel put into the harbor of Monterey and joined 
there the squadron under command of Commodore Shubrick, operating in connection 
with the land forces under Colonel Mason. 

Mr. Beebee landed from the ship, and looking about Monterey found the place to 
be the scene of considerable sickness, and the funeral of a lieutenant in progress. He went 
hunting in the vicinity of the site now occupied by the Hotel del Monterey, and from 
the exposure of the hunt was taken down, after lie returned to the ship, with what was 
known as the Monterey fever, and after that the physician on board could not allow him 
to go ashore again. Wishing to go to San Jose, where his friend Cook had preceded 
him, he obtained the sought-for opportunity aboard a little vessel called the Malacadel, 
which had been recently purchased at auction by an old shipper. Having a nephew about 
our subject's age, the vessel's owner invited him to go along as company, and the offer 
was gladly accepted. He packed his duds, bade good-bye to his friends on the 
Southampton and boarded the Malacadel, which set sail for Sausalito. The vessel was 
almost constantly disabled, and it was well in September before she reached her destination. 
Then all vessels entering the bay went first to Sausalito for water, Yerba Buena being 
practically without a fresh water supply. Arriving at Yerba Buena eventually, our 
subject went ashore. There he met one or two young men whom he had fallen in 
with ill Panama, and who by their conversation there had first turned his attention to 
California. Their names were respectively Ruckle and Farnham, the latter of whom was 
subsequently a well-known figure and the author of a widely circulated work on California. 
Meeting Joseph S. Ruckle in Yerba Buena, Mr. Beebee learned that he and his former 
fellow-passenger, Henry D. Cook, were in partnership in business at San Jose, and he 
accepted an offer to accompany Mr. Ruckle to San Jose, where he entered their 
employ as clerk. The incumbency of their position did not prevent him from taking a 
trip anywhere throughout the State at any time his inclination led him to desire a 
change and recreation. 

California, inhabited as it was by the generous ranch owners and their help, was a land 
of ideal hospitality, and one could travel for a year throughout its length and breadth 
without the opportunity to expend anything for entertainment. If it were to remain such 
forever there was no necessity for a care for the future. It was almost a pity to break up 
such a condition, even to make way for the march of modern improvement, with its 
ruthless disregard for sentiment. 

On one of these trips of vacation from the store he accompanied a party of Mexicans on 
an elk hunt as far away as the San Joaquin River, they seeking the animals for their 
hide and tallow. He also often rode to Monterey and to Yerba Buena, and he saw in its 
primal state the future great commercial city of San Francisco, its few streets as yet un- 
trodden by the feet of the gold-hunters, who were to make for California a new history. 
While with others he foresaw that a great commercial center was to spring up on the 
bay of San Francisco, yet it was at that time an almost unreasonable stretch of imagination 
to locate it on the sand hills by the bleak mountain side, where fate had mapped 
out its streets and blocks, while much more desirable appearing sites seemed ready made 
at other points along the bay, and while many of the shrewdest men of the day had selected 
Benicia as the site of the future metropolis of the Pacific. Mr. Beebee recalls, as incidental 
to the horseback rides he was accustomed to take at that day from San Jose to the bay, 
that the only disagreeable portion of the trip was the last three or four miles, where the
tall, narrow mounds of sand impeded the view and obstructed the way so that it was 
necessary to pursue an extremely tortuous course in the latter part of the journey to 
Yerba Buena. Yet, where these very sand hills made life miserable for the traveler 
of that day, now lies the most valuable portion of San Francisco; where property is 
valued at thousands of dollars to the foot, and the sand of early times is to-day but a 
memory, cannot the wise men of to-day now understand why the bright young man of 
'48 did not lay the foundation for fortunes of millions by buying up all the fifty-vara 
lots they could get at the regular price of $16.75. Mr. Beebee did become the owner 
of one of these lots, and when in 1849 he sold it for $1,600, he was looked upon as a 
very shrewd and fortunate man of business. 

At last the discovery of gold by Marshall occurred, and the news reached San Jose 
through a messenger who passed through on his way to Monterey to exhibit results of the 
find to the Governor. Our subject was among the early ones to go to the mines, 
prompted in this course as much by love of adventure as a desire for personal aggran- 
dizement. At the mines lie had what would be looked upon as excellent success, though 
not caring particularly to accumulate the sudden riches that one might suppose there 
was a chance for. As an illustration of this lack of greed for gold then existing among 
some of the young men, an incident not devoid of an amusing side may be related. One 
day, on which the sun shone with unusual intensity, our subject was reclining, in com- 
pany with a young blacksmith, under the grateful shade of a tree. About three o'clock 
in the afternoon, the temperature having begun to moderate, the blacksmith proposed to 
Mr. Beebee that they resume prospecting. The proposition being satisfactory, work with 
the pick began in a shaded place, and before sundown our subject had washed out nearly 
$400 worth of gold! As a sequel to a typical tale of the time, it may be stated that a 
couple of days later the pair were seeking new and better diggings! 

In the fall Mr. Beebee left the mines and went back as far as Yerba Buena, where he 
was taken sick with the Sacramento fever. The winter passed without incident other 
than the excitement of the new life, caused by the fever, and in May, 1849, Mr. Beebee 
left the scene of his early experience in the northern counties for San Luis Obispo, in 
company with Samuel A. Pollard, the present city clerk of this place, who had been down 
in this country before. Messrs. Beebee and Pollard opened a store for the sale of general 
merchandise, putting up the first store building, an adobe, which still stands on the 
corner of Monterey and Chorro streets, adjoining Sinscheimer's store. The conditions 
of trade at that early day were vastly different from those existing at present. Custom 
came to this store from the ranches all round, some as remote as forty miles away. 
After two or three years in merchandising, which was somewhat unprofitable, Mr. Beebee 
withdrew from the firm and engaged in ranching at a place eight miles south of San 
Luis Obispo, where he continued in the cattle business until the dry year of 1864-'65. 
During that drought his 1,500 head of cattle lay down and died, and he experienced a 
great financial set-back. It M-as not long afterward that he sold his ranch of 1,200 
acres to Steele Bros., whose property it yet remains. 

Meantime, however, Mr. Beebee had entered the realm of politics. He was one of 
the few Republicans who resided hereabouts at the outbreak of the Rebellion, and he was 
one of the principals in the movement to build up and crytallize Union sentiment,  
organizing a strong Republican constituency with the aid of the Spanish recruits, lie 
was appointed by Governor Stanford as Judge of San Luis Obispo County, and having 
served a year by virtue of the commission he was elected to succeed himself, and re- 
elected at the expiration of that terra. His part in building up the Republican party in 
this county was an active one, but he has since excluded politics, and gives it only the 
attention necessary in the exercise of his privileges as a citizen. 

Having sold his ranch, he moved into town, and in 1869, in company with John 
Harford, who owned the landing facilities, and L. Schwartz, of Santa Cruz, who resided 
in the timber district, he embarked in the lumber business, Mr. Schwartz doing the 
buying, Mr. Harford the shipping, while Mr. Beebee did the selling and managed the busi- 
ness. Mr. Harford afterward retired from the firm and went to Washington Territory, 
where he now resides, and Messrs. Beebee and Schwartz have since carried on the trade, 
the former having exclusive management of the business for some ten or fifteen years, 
when, having placed it on a permanent footing, he gradually began to retire from the 
aggressive part he had so long taken in its conduct. Some idea of the magnitude of the 
operations of this house may be gathered when it is stated that their trade has in the 
past reached all the way from 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 feet of lumber per year, they 
supplying the trade to the remote interior. All these years they have practically con- 
trolled the lumber trade of this part, and have had extensive interests in the shipping 
which touched at Port Harford. They now own yards at Cayucos, where they are inter- 
ested in the wharf as members of the firm of James Cass & Co. of Santa Maria and at San 
Luis Obispo. 

Mr. Beebee has independently large shipping connections, being extensively interested 
in fine vessels engaged in the coast and foreign trade, one of which, a fine schooner, 
bears his name. These, however, are but a portion of his investments, among the others 
of which may be mentioned banking, he being vice-president of the First National Bank 
of San Luis Obispo, and a stockholder in the Bank of San Luis Obispo, of which he was 
one of the organizers. He has some agricultural interests as a partner, and some entirely 
on his own account, among the latter a dairy ranch of 500 acres, between San Luis 
and Cayucos, and fifteen miles from the former. 

Having gotten his various business properties under control, Mr. Beebee has allowed 
his former taste for travel to revive to some extent, and in 1886 visited Alaska, following 
this in the succeeding year with a tour of Europe, occupying six months of constant 
travel and sight-seeing. In 1888 he made a trip to Yellowstone Park, and drank in the 
beauties of that favored center of nature's fairest phases. 

He has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married here, was Miss Alida St. 
Clair, who died in 1878. By this marriage there were two children, of whom one is 
living, viz.: William D., aged fourteen, in 1890; the other, Addie B., having died at 
the age of seven years. Mr. Beebee's present wife was formerly Miss Arietta S. Bes 
wick, and to her he was united in marriage in November, 1879. 

Mr. Beebee is a good type of the successful, spirited pioneer of California. Coming 
here long before the tide of immigration set in this direction, he has, ever since reaching 
manhood's estate, held his place well in the front rank of business men, through all the 
various changes of condition and circumstances which have taken place since the 
early days. He has seen California in all her various phases from the days when he 
rode horseback over her great ranches until a new civilization has grown up and she  
occupies a place among the most favored and most advanced of the States of the Union. 
As a business man, he couples with aggressiveness and shrewdness a spirit of toleration 
and moderation which goes far to explain his popularity socially. His only affiliation with 
social or fraternal bodies, however, is that of his connection with the San Francisco Society 
of California Pioneers, of which he has long been a member. 

History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California  - by 
C.M. Gidney, Benjamin Brooks, Edwin M. Sheridan, Vol I, II.  -Lewis Publ. Co., 
Chicago, 1917.