Alameda County Biographies

JOSEPH KNOWLAND

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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

 

	Prominently connected with various business and corporate interests of San Francisco 
and Alameda, Joseph Knowland became known as one of the real builders and promoters of the 
Bay country of California and through the extent and importance of his commercial and financial 
relations influenced in an important way general advancement and progress. From pioneer times 
until his death, November 13, 1913, he remained prominent in business circles and in Alameda, 
where he had resided since 1872, was also a leader in the advancement of those interests looking 
toward civic development and community growth. He was born in New York, October 8, 1833, and 
was reared in Southampton, Long Island, a representative of a family long established on American
soil.
	Joseph Knowland acquired his education in the public schools of Southampton, and when 
a young man moved to California, attracted by the reports of the gold discoveries in this state. He 
secured passage on the George Law to Aspinwall, arriving in San Francisco on the 14th of February, 
1857. Shortly afterward he went to the mines and worked in the neighborhood of Yankee Jim's, in 
Placer county, until illness compelled him to return to San Francisco. Following his recovery he 
secured an engagement with the shipping house of Moore & Folger, then agents for a line of clipper 
ships running between San Francisco and New York city. Mr. Knowland retained this connection for 
some years and also had other engagements of a like character. In the year 1862 he first became 
connected with the lumber business, in which he became a prominent figure in the course of time. He 
first secured a position with Benjamin Dore and afterward was connected with the house of Blythe & 
Wetherbee. In 1867 he formed a partnership with Jason Springer, and they established an independent 
business under the name of Springer & Knowland, this enterprise existing for about three years. During 
this period Mr. Knowland was ill for some time and out of business for about a year. Afterward he 
associated himself with Charles F. Doe under the title of Knowland & Doe, and this firm controlled a large 
and important lumber business for a number of years. After the company was dissolved Mr. Knowland 
made a trip east and upon his return in 1882 assisted in the organization of the Gardiner Mill Company, 
with which he was connected until his death, being for many years previous president and managing 
owner. The Gardiner Mill Company controls a very important enterprise. The mill, which is located at 
Gardiner City, Oregon, was burned in October, 1888, but this impeded operations for only a time. The 
company today owns extensive lumber lands and has interests in a coasting fleet besides being heavily 
interested in the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill & Lumber Company of Los Angeles. In its operations a large 
amount of money is used, and it makes for the development of this section as only such an extensive 
enterprise can.
	As president of the Gardiner Mill Company Mr. Knowland occupied a prominent place in industrial 
circles, but his interests were not by any means confined to this one connection, as his business ability 
soon carried him forward into important relations with a number of other equally important enterprises. He was 
the principal owner of the well known whaler, the Amethyst, which was wrecked some time ago, the crew being 
rescued by a government relief vessel. He was at one time interested with the Hoopers and Talbots in the San 
Pedro Lumber Company and acted as director of that concern and also had large interests in the Southern 
Lumber Company of San Diego, having acted as president and a member of the board of directors. With 
Governor Lowe, Egbert Judson and other prominent men he was at one time extensively interested in mines in 
Tombstone, Arizona. In Alameda he was one of the largest stockholders and a member of the board of directors 
of the Alameda Bank and a trustee of the Gas Consumers Association, with which he was identified for 
seventeen years. He was also vice president of the Kennedy Mining & Milling Company of Jackson, Amador 
county, one of the largest mining industries on the coast, employing about three hundred men at the plant.
	On the 13th of May, 1863, Mr. Knowland was united in marriage to Miss Hannah B. Russell, a native of 
Bingham, Maine, and they became the parents of the following children: Joseph R.; Hollis P., deceased; Sadie E., 
who married Professor George E. Coe and who died August 24, 1905; and Lucy B.
	Mr. Knowland was well known in fraternal circles, having been made a Mason in Golden Gate Lodge in 
San Francisco in 1864, although he later transferred his membership to Oak Grove Lodge, No. 215, F. & A. M. 
He was a member of Alameda Chapter, No. 70, R. A. M.; Oakland Commandery, No. 11, K. T.; Oakland 
Consistory; and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. A short time before his death he was raised to the first section of 
the thirty-third degree. For a long time he was associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to 
San Francisco Lodge, No. 3. In citizenship he was progressive and public-spirited and took a most helpful interest 
in matters looking toward municipal advancement. He was a constant contributor to the Old People's Home, of 
which he was one of the trustees, and made various gifts of a similar character, always following the Bible maxim 
of not allowing his left hand to know what his right hand did. A man of broad and unostentatious charity, of 
progressive views and stanch honesty of purpose, he rose to a high place among the representative citizens of 
California, and his name adds to the list of those whose labors have been so far-reaching and beneficial in effect 
that they have influenced many phases of community development.

Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 68