William Chapman Ralston (1826 - 1875)

Born 12 Jan 1826 in Wellsville in Columbiana County in eastern Ohio

Died 27 Aug 1875 at age 49 in North Beach, San Francisco County, California

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Robert Green [send private message]

Biography

Banker, Businessman. A native of Ohio, William Ralston moved to Panama after the discovery of gold in California and joined a banking and shipping firm that carried miners to San Francisco. In 1854, he settled in San Francisco himself and spent the next ten years with various banking firms. In 1864, he co-founded the Bank of California with Darius O. Mills and was named the bank's cashier. Taking advantage of the events of the time, he invested much of the young bank's money into the silver mines of Nevada's Comstock Lode and as a result, both Ralston and his bank profited greatly. Establishing himself as one of San Francisco's leading bankers, he began using his money to benefit the city of San Francisco by coming up with and/or financing numerous ventures and projects including the California Theater, New Montgomery Street, the University of California Berkeley, and Ralston Hall. His most famous project however would be the Palace Hotel which after it's completion in 1875, would become San Francisco's defining landmark and be the place many famous personalities would stay when visiting the city. On August 26, 1875, crippled by Ralston's overspending and failed ventures, the Bank of California collapsed and Ralston was asked to resign the next morning. Later the same day of his resignation, he accidentally drowned during his regular swim in the San Francisco Bay. For all of his contributions to the city, he is often considered today as the man who built San Francisco.

Bio by: G.Photographer

_________________________________________________

William was born in 1826 to Robert and Harriet (Herford) Ralston in Ohio. He was 25 years of age when word came of the gold strikes in California and he set out to prosper by it. He was able to get involved in transporting people and goods across the isthmus of Panama and it was profitable. In 1854 he moved on to San Francisco and by 1864, after working in several banks, he helped organize the Bank of California. William would soon become the bank's first president. The Comstock Lode had been found in Nevada and William parlayed investments in the silver trade into an empire that included steamships, telegraph companies and even the trans-continental railroad.

In around 1857, William would marry Miss Elizabeth Red, the daughter of James Red from Calhoun County, Illinois. "Lizzie" as she was called had come to California with her uncle John D. Fry.

Together, William and Lizzie would have the following children:

Samuel Fry Ralston (1859–1888)

Etna Louise Ralston (1860–1862)

William Chapman Ralston (1863–1924)

Emelita Thorn (Ralston) Page (1865–1964)

Bertha (Ralston) Bright (1872–1960)

William was not afraid to take a risk and he used that to his advantage, up to a point. In 1875 William's empire fell apart due to over-investing. With the Bank of California in trouble he was forced to resign as President and the very next day he drowned during his daily swim. There was talk of suicide but the coroner’s inquest, on which depended life insurance for Lizzie and their four children, delved into the testimony and found that doctors observed evidence of an apoplectic stroke, but none of drowning. This was borne out by the autopsy.

William was just 49 years old at the time of his death. His body in buried in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, San Mateo County, California.

Sources

• William Ralston's Wikipedia Biography [1]

• William Ralston Biography by the Museum of the City of San Francisco [2]

• Find A Grave Memorial [3]