William Alexander Leidesdorff Jr. (1810 – May 18, 1848) was an Afro-Caribbean settler in California and one of the founders of the city that became San Francisco . A highly successful, enterprising businessman, he is thought to have been the first black millionaire in the United States .
41-511: Leidesdorff was a West Indian immigrant of Afro-Cuban , possibly Carib , Danish /Swedish and Jewish ancestry. Leidesdorff became a United States citizen in New Orleans in 1834. He migrated to Alta California in 1841, then under Mexican rule, settling in Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), a village of about 30 Mexican and European families. He became a Mexican citizen in 1844 and received
82-592: A Virgin Islands Creole , to which she may have belonged. Other sources said the mother Marie Anne Spark (as she was also known) was a mixed-race woman of African and Spanish heritage, thought to have been born in Cuba . In census records, Marie Anne Spark was classified as a free Carib Indian, but few Carib survived into the late 18th century, according to Gary Palgon's biography of Leidesdorff. Other sources document tens of thousands of Caribs, most of mixed heritage, living in
123-554: A creole woman. As his parents were not legally married, Leidesdorff was considered illegitimate until July 18th, 1837, when a Crucian court formally recognized his birth, allowing him to inherit his father's property. Wilhelm Leidesdorff Sr. was reportedly of Jewish descent from the community of Altona, Hamburg . It was part of the Danish Schleswig-Holstein , then across the river from but now part of today's port of Hamburg, Germany. He migrated to North America and later
164-434: A deposit, with the promise of two more installment payments. By the time Folsom returned to San Francisco, land prices were rising. The government challenged his purchase of Leidesdorff's title, as Anna Spark legally had no claim to it. A California State government "claim was brought because under old Mexican law that foreigners could not inherit property. The dispute was brought to the courts, where legal entanglements over
205-458: A fisherman topsail to fill the gap at the top in light airs. Various types of schooners are defined by their rig configuration. Most have a bowsprit although some were built without one for crew safety, such as Adventure . The following varieties were built: Schooners were built primarily for cargo, passengers, and fishing. The Norwegian polar schooner Fram was used by both Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen in their explorations of
246-681: A land grant from the Mexican government, 8 Spanish leagues, or 35,500 acres (144 km) south of the American River , known as Rancho Rio de los Americanos . He served as US Vice Consul to Mexico at the Port of San Francisco beginning in 1845. Leidesdorff was President of the San Francisco school board and also elected as City Treasurer. Shortly before Leidesdorff's death, vast amounts of gold were officially reported on his Rancho Rio De los Americanos. By
287-547: A ship captain. He held posts with firms associated with his father or perhaps his mentors. Ship manifest documents show Leidesdorff's working as Ship Captain and/or Master, 1834–1840, out of the Port of New Orleans. William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. was thought the last black ship captain in Louisiana after strict enforcement of the Negro Seamen Acts began at the Port of New Orleans. Leidesdorff traveled to New York to become
328-632: A yacht owned by the mayors (Dutch: burgemeesters) of Amsterdam, drawn by the Dutch artist Rool and dated 1600. Later examples show schooners (Dutch: schoeners) in Amsterdam in 1638 and New Amsterdam in 1627. Paintings by Van de Velde (1633–1707) and an engraving by Jan Kip of the Thames at Lambeth, dated 1697, suggest that schooner rig was common in England and Holland by the end of the 17th century. The Royal Transport
369-644: Is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago ). In the 1597 Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term West Indian initially described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Indies, by 1661 the term defined "an inhabitant or native of the West Indies, of European origin or descent." In the 1950s, coinciding with decolonization and the arrival of Afro-Caribbean migrants in
410-520: Is recognized as the "African Founding Father of California", as noted by the California State Legislature. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{ cite encyclopedia }} : Missing or empty |title= ( help ) West Indian A West Indian
451-516: The British West Indies only, to the exclusion of not just the Hispanophones, but also French and Dutch West Indians. This Caribbean-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Schooner A schooner ( / ˈ s k uː n ər / SKOO -nər ) is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in
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#1732869278633492-497: The Caribbean to further his career as a merchant. Leidesdorff, Jr.'s mother Anna Marie Sparks, was described in one account as a Carib Indian woman; she was believed also to have had African and European ancestry. Her race was noted in a census report. Many people observed that what were called "Carib" people had skin of various hues that likely reflected mixed ancestry, ranging from dark brown to lighter shades of brown, resulting in
533-414: The staysail schooner. The name "schooner" first appeared in eastern North America in the early 1700s. The name may be related to a Scots word meaning to skip over water, or to skip stones. The origins of schooner rigged vessels is obscure, but there is good evidence of them from the early 17th century in paintings by Dutch marine artists. The earliest known illustration of a schooner depicts
574-518: The Atlantic in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By 1910, 45 five-masted and 10 six-masted schooners had been built in Bath, Maine and in towns on Penobscot Bay , including Wyoming which is considered the largest wooden ship ever built. The Thomas W. Lawson was the only seven-masted schooner built. The rig is rarely found on a hull of less than 50 feet LOA , and small schooners are generally two-masted. In
615-593: The Azores to Britain. Some pilot boats adopted the rig. The fishing vessels that worked the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were schooners, and held in high regard as an outstanding development of the type. In merchant use, the ease of handling in confined waters and smaller crew requirements made schooners a common rig, especially in the 19th century. Some schooners worked on deep sea routes. In British home waters, schooners usually had cargo-carrying hulls that were designed to take
656-717: The Master of the schooner Julia Ann that sailed from New York to Yerba Buena (later San Francisco) in Alta California, then part of Mexico , in 1841. His route was via Panama , St. Croix, Brazil, Chile, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Sitka (Alaska) , and on to California following the Pacific Ocean currents. On arriving at Yerba Buena , Leidesdorff, Jr. began to re-build his businesses. The village cove then only had thirty European-Mexican families, so it did not take long for
697-582: The Mexican government for 35,521 acres (143.75 km) on the south bank of the American River , near today's Californian City of Sacramento .He named the property Rancho Rio de los Americanos . During this period, Mexico encouraged leading Americans to settle in its territory by granting large land grants; in exchange the government required Americans to convert to Catholicism , the state religion; learn to speak Spanish; and accept Mexican citizenship. He went on to establish extensive commercial relations throughout Hawaii, Alaska and Mexican California. During
738-513: The U.S. Declaration of Independence read for the first time in California on the veranda at his home in celebration of Independence Day. Leidesdorff, Jr. achieved a high reputation for integrity and enterprise; he is said to have been "liberal, hospitable, cordial, confiding even to a fault." Leidesdorff became one of the wealthiest man in California. The value of his property near Sacramento began to rise dramatically just before his death, when gold
779-412: The U.S. Army. In 1849, Folsom took leave from the U.S. Army and located Leidesdorff's mother and some of his siblings in the West Indies. Folsom signed a note to purchase from Anna Spark title to her son's estate for $ 75,000, title which included all of Leidesdorff's real estate holdings in San Francisco as well as the 35,000-acre (140 km) Rancho Rio de los Americanos near Sacramento . He paid her
820-552: The United Kingdom, West Indian referred to those who were Black. Inclusively, in 1961 all inhabitants of the West Indies Federation were termed West Indian regardless of their descent, besides West indian Indo-Caribbean people sometimes also use the term East Indian West Indian . The OED now defines it simply as a citizen of any West Indies nation. Some West Indian people reserve this term for citizens or natives of
861-508: The Windwards and Trinidad at the time of Leidesdorff's birth. Together the accounts describe Spark as a light-skinned woman of mixed-race ancestry, yet classified as black by the 1850s California Court System, where blacks were restricted from testifying in court. According to Sue Bailey Thurman , "With the name of William Alexander Leidesdorff, we begin the documentary history of pioneers of Negro origin in California." As an infant, Leidesdorff
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#1732869278633902-414: The actual value of his estate dramatically. His waterfront property in today's financial district of San Francisco would be valuable today. A complete inventory of his estate has yet to be quantified. The court appointed temporary administrators of his estate because there were no probate laws in California at that time. By 1854, when the California State Legislature considered escheat to take control of
943-642: The ambitious man to make an impact. He launched the first steamboat to operate on San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River ; it was 37 feet (11 m) long and purchased in Alaska . He built the City Hotel, the first hotel in San Francisco, and the first commercial shipping warehouse, the latter on what became Leidesdorff Street off the Embarcadero. In 1844 Leidesdorff obtained a vast land grant through favor from
984-408: The case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schooner also has a square topsail on the foremast, to which may be added a topgallant . Differing definitions leave uncertain whether the addition of a fore course would make such a vessel a brigantine . Many schooners are gaff-rigged , but other examples include Bermuda rig and
1025-423: The conflicts of Mexican, American and Danish laws kept it for over ten years." The uncertainty of new probate laws, combined with the fact that William Leidesdorff, though he had held federal offices, held dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship, further complicated the property issues. Leidesdorff's St. Croix relatives, mother and siblings, challenged title through Danish officials because of Folsom's false evaluation of
1066-592: The eight years of his residence, Leidesdorff served as one of six aldermen or town councilors of the Ayuntamiento . After the United States took over California following the Mexican–American War , he was one of three members on the first San Francisco school board, which organized the first public school in the city; later he was elected City Treasurer. His house was one of the largest, and he donated land for
1107-522: The estate. Both the US and Mexican national governments had interest in the large estate. The high value and reach of the Leidesdorff estate made Folsom's "purchase" extremely controversial. In 1854, Governor Bigler , recommended the escheat of the estate, then worth a million and a half, to the state legislature, and suggested that proceedings be commenced for its recovery from Folsom. The courts refused to admit
1148-614: The first public school. In 1845, during the President James Polk administration, Leidesdorff accepted the request from United States Consul Thomas O. Larkin to serve as the US Vice Consul to Mexico at the Port of San Francisco, a measure of his political standing in region. Larkin was the first and last U.S. consul appointed to serve in California. Before the American flag was raised over San Francisco (July 1846), Leidesdorff had
1189-567: The frenzy of the Gold Rush . Leidesdorff never married. According to the explorer John C. Fremont , he lived with a Russian woman while maintaining diplomatic relationships with the Russian community in Sitka, Alaska . Leidesdorff died of brain fever on May 18, 1848 after receiving last rites from a Catholic priest. On the day of his burial, the town was in mourning, flags were at half-mast, business
1230-541: The ground in drying harbours (or, even, to unload dried out on an open beach). The last of these once-common craft had ceased trading by the middle of the 20th century. Some very large schooners with five or more masts were built in the United States from circa 1880–1920. They mostly carried bulk cargoes such as coal and timber. In yachting, schooners predominated in the early years of the America's Cup . In more recent times, schooners have been used as sail training ships. The type
1271-531: The property, Leidesdorff's estate was worth well over one million dollars and multiple of millions of dollars in gold was mined off his land. When the Leidesdorff-Folsom partitioned estate was auctioned off in 1856, the property brought more than $ 1,445,000. Settlement of the estate was complicated by the actions of Joseph Folsom . As Customs Collector and Harbor Master for San Francisco in 1848, he had become familiar with Leidesdorff's business dealings with
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1312-420: The schooner rig may be chosen on a larger boat so as to reduce the overall mast height and to keep each sail to a more manageable size, giving a mainsail that is easier to handle and to reef. An issue when planning a two-masted schooner's rig is how best to fill the space between the masts: for instance, one may adopt (i) a gaff sail on the foremast (even with a Bermuda mainsail), or (ii) a main staysail, often with
1353-554: The time his estate was auctioned off in 1856, it was worth more than $ 1,445,000, not including vast quantities of gold mined upon his land. International Leidesdorff bicentennial celebrations began on October 22, 2011, on his native isle of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands . Leidesdorff was born in 1810 on the island of Saint Croix in the Danish West Indies to William Leidesdorff Sr., a white Danish merchant, and Anne Marie Spark,
1394-602: The title of the West Indian mixed-race relatives because there may have been "other heirs, who had never conveyed away their rights in the estate", from Europe. These "other heirs" from Leidesdorff's father's family lived in Europe at Altona and Copenhagen , and in the Caribbean Islands. Ultimately the following happened: (1) The claims of Leidesdorff's West Indian relatives were thrown out of court; their evidence of relationship
1435-509: The two decades around 1900, larger multi-masted schooners were built in New England and on the Great Lakes with four, five, six, or even, seven masts. Schooners were traditionally gaff-rigged, and some schooners sailing today are reproductions of famous schooners of old, but modern vessels tend to be Bermuda rigged (or occasionally junk-rigged) . While a sloop rig is simpler and cheaper,
1476-487: Was an example of a large British-built schooner, launched in 1695 at Chatham. The schooner rig was used in vessels with a wide range of purposes. On a fast hull, good ability to windward was useful for privateers, blockade runners, slave ships, smaller naval craft and opium clippers. Packet boats (built for the fast conveyance of passengers and goods) were often schooners. Fruit schooners were noted for their quick passages, taking their perishable cargoes on routes such as
1517-430: Was baptized as a Lutheran , as were all the Leidesdorff children, since it was the adopted faith his father and many other people of Jewish ancestry in Europe assumed to avoid conflict. In 1837 Leidesdorff Sr. officially "adopted" all four of his own children from Anne Marie Sparks to give them legal standing by Danish Law. In 1834, Leidesdorff immigrated to New Orleans where he became a naturalized American citizen and
1558-590: Was discovered along the American River just above his Leidesdorff Ranch, in the Gold Mining District of California. In March 1848, the California Star reported the total non-Native population of San Francisco as only 812: 575 males, 177 females and 60 children. In May 1848, the vast majority of men departed for the American River gold fields in hopes of striking it rich. Other towns were nearly emptied in
1599-483: Was further developed in British North America starting around 1713. In the 1700s and 1800s in what is now New England and Atlantic Canada schooners became popular for coastal trade, requiring a smaller crew for their size compared to then traditional ocean crossing square rig ships, and being fast and versatile. Three-masted schooners were introduced around 1800. Schooners were popular on both sides of
1640-516: Was rejected. As they were not American citizens, they were not considered to have standing. (2) No recognized Danish family or individual of the name of Leidesdorff appeared to claim the estate of William Leidesdorff of San Francisco. Other Danish members of the family lived on St. Croix for some time after the American's death. (3) The statute of limitations covered and protected every title obtained from Joseph L. Folsom and others who later acquired possession. Today, William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr.
1681-403: Was suspended, and the schools were closed. His remains were interred near the front entrance of Mission Dolores the next day on May 19th. The California pioneer died intestate , with no living relatives in California or the United States. In 1848 his estate was assumed devalued and in debt. The public discovery of gold in the American River valley and upon his extensive land holdings increased