Charles Frederick Crocker

Charles Frederick Crocker
Born	(1854-12-26)December 26, 1854 Sacramento, California
Died	July 17, 1897(1897-07-17) (aged 42) San Mateo, California
Occupation	Railroad leader
Spouse	Jennie Mills Easton (1858–1887)
Children	Mary Crocker (1881–1905) Charles Templeton Crocker (1884–1948) Jennie Adeline Crocker (1887–1974)

Charles Frederick Crocker (December 26, 1854 – July 17, 1897) was vice president of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and a member of the wealthy Crocker family.^[1][2]

Biography

He was born in Sacramento on December 26, 1854, the eldest son of Mary Ann and Charles Crocker.^[1][2] He was educated in Sacramento public schools, graduated from Oakland Military Academy in 1872 and attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic School (1875), but did not graduate as a result of poor eyesight.^[2]

After taking a trip to Japan, Crocker entered the family railroad business at the age of 22 as a clerk in the Fourth and Townsend Streets office of Southern Pacific.^[2] When George C. Perkins was elected governor in 1879, he appointed Crocker as a colonel in the National Guard.^[2] By 1888, Crocker was president of the San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada Railroad.^[3]

Crocker purchased the 'Uplands' estate (then part of San Mateo and later incorporated into Hillsborough) from William Henry Howard in 1894.^[4] Crocker died at 'Uplands' on July 17, 1897, from complications of Bright's disease following a brief, acute paralysis.^[2] His wife, the former Jennie Marine Easton, had died during the birth of their third child.^[2]

Legacy

Crocker was survived by three children: Mary Crocker (who would later marry the congressman Francis Burton Harrison), Charles Templeton Crocker (who became a noted scientist),^[5] and Jennie Adeline Crocker.

Crocker was notably active in public affairs, serving as one of the Regents of the University of California (appointed in 1888 by Governor Waterman), as president of the California Academy of Sciences, and as a trustee of Stanford University.^[2]

Family members

Crocker's brothers were banker and investor William H. Crocker, president of the Crocker Bank and George Crocker, second vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. His cousin was the mystic, princess and author Aimée Crocker. His uncle Edwin B. Crocker built Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum.

Family tree

Crocker family tree  view talk edit

Nancy Crocker 1792–1854 Isaac Crocker 1781–1856 Mary Norton 1821–47 Edwin B. Crocker 1818–75 Margaret Rhodes 1822–1901 Mary Ann Deming 1827–89 Charles Crocker 1822–88 Clarke Crocker[a] 1827–90 Henry Smith Crocker [b][c][d] 1832–1904 Mary Norton Crocker 1846–1923 [two marriages] Edwin Clark Crocker 1856–56 Nellie Margaret Crocker 1856–79 Aimée Isabella Crocker 1864–1941 [five marriages] Henry J. Crocker[e][f] 1861–1912 Kate Eugenie Crocker 1854–74 James O.B. Gunn 1846–1923 Jennie Louise Crocker 1860–1939 Jacob Sloat Fassett 1853–1924 [multiple children][g] [multiple children] [multiple children] Emily Elizabeth Crocker 1853–53 Emma Hanchett 1855–1904 George Crocker 1856–1909 Harriet Valentine Crocker 1859–1935 Charles Beatty Alexander[h] 1849–1927 Jennie Easton[i] 1858–87 Charles Frederick Crocker 1854–97 Francis Crocker 1858–62 Ethel Sperry 1861–1934 William Henry Crocker Mary Crocker 1881–1905 Francis Burton Harrison 1873–1957 Harriet Crocker Alexander 1888–1972 Winthrop W. Aldrich 1885–1974 [multiple children] Helene Irwin[j] 1887–1966 Charles Templeton Crocker 1884–1948 Janetta Alexander 1890–1973 Arnold Whitridge 1892–1989 Harry Crocker[f] 1893–1958 Malcolm Whitman 1877–1932 Jennie Adeline Crocker 1887–1974 Robert Henderson 1877–1940 Mary Crocker Alexander 1895–1986 Sheldon Whitehouse 1883–1965 [multiple children] [multiple children] [one child] [multiple children] [multiple children] [multiple children][k] view talk edit Notes Married to Julia A Kimball (1830–1901) Married to Clara Ellen Swinerton (1845–1910) At least one son, Charles Henry (1865–1935) a San Francisco publisher of maps[6] and Crocker-Langley San Francisco city directories[7] and a railroad investor Married to Mary Virginia Ives (1863–1929) Multiple siblings (not shown) Including actress Kate McComb (1871–1959), from Mary Crocker's first marriage to Charles L. Scudder. Uncle of Eleanor Butler Roosevelt (1888–1960) Niece of Darius Ogden Mills (1825–1910) Daughter of William G. Irwin (1843–1914) Including Ambassador Charles S. Whitehouse (1921–2001), father of US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (1955–); and Sylvia Whitehouse (1930–), wife of Ambassador Robert O. Blake (1921–2015) and mother of Ambassador Robert O. Blake Jr. (1957–). Sources "Crocker Family Tree". San Mateo County Historical Association. "C. F. Crocker Dead. Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Expires in San Mateo, California". The New York Times. July 18, 1897. Retrieved 2010-02-09. Col. Charles F. Crocker, Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railway Company, died at his home here to-night. (subscription required) "Clasped in the Arms of Death". San Francisco Call. Vol. 82, no. 48. 18 July 1897. Retrieved 9 February 2017. The Official Railway List. Chicago: Railway Purchasing Agent Company. 1888. p. 174. garrison, Joanne. "Jennie M. Easton, daughter of Ansel I. and Adeline Easton". Peninsula Royalty: The Founding Families of Burlingame-Hillsborough. Burlingame Historical Society. Retrieved 9 February 2017. "Crocker, Noted Scientist, Dies In Home At SF". Madera Tribune. No. 113. U.P. 13 December 1948. Retrieved 9 February 2017. "Crocker, Henry Smith (January 31, 1832 - July 18, 1904):". Geographicus Rare Antique Maps. Retrieved 5 March 2025. "H.S. Crocker Co. Publishing, San Francisco, CA". Southwest Harbor Public Library. Southwest Harbor, Maine. Retrieved 5 March 2025.

References