Alameda County
Biographies
THOMAS CORAM
The affairs of the Pacific Land Investment Company at Newark, Alameda county, are successfully managed by Thomas Coram, superintendent of the forty-five hundred acres which comprise the property of the firm. He was born in Devonshire, England, where the early years of his boyhood were passed. At the age of sixteen years he went to sea, following the life for about twelve years and meeting with a success which brought to him eventually the position of first officer. His first trip was made in 1877 and out of the city of Antwerp, Belgium, and the following years were spent principally in the Mediterranean sea, and along the coasts of China and Japan. For a year he held the position of second officer in his travels between Bristol and New York City.
Mr. Coram's arrival in California is dated from the time of the well-remembered “boom” in the city of San Diego, and upon landing there he decided to invest in town property. This he did but only remained a few months, when he came to San Francisco and while a resident of that city engaged in various capacities with the firm with which he is now identified. In 1892 he came to Newark and took charge of the large ranch, which was then owned by James G. Fair, who was also the president of the company. Since that time he has given his sole efforts toward the successful management of the property, disposing of lots and leasing all but seven hundred acres, this being the land which he farms. He raises draft and driving horses, and has about one hundred head on his place. He engages in general farming and also has considerable land given over to pasturing purposes.
Transcribed
10-8-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1350. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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