Alameda
County
Biographies
GEORGE W. FISHER
While the impression prevails that the majority of men contributing to the prosperity of the west are indebted to it for the opportunities which gave them their start in life, the exception to the rule claims many of the foremost promoters of municipal and agricultural stability along the coast. Representative of the latter class is George W. Fisher, who was manager of the Puget Sound Lumber Company of Oakland for twenty years, and formerly engaged in extensive mining and real estate transactions. Mr. Fisher brought success with him to the coast in 1868, re-established his aggressive business energy in legitimate channels, and has known no diminution of that progress which comes from good birth, good training, and practical, sane ambitions. He is one of Oakland’s foremost and most substantial citizens, prominent in club and social life, and as a Republican has rendered efficient service as a member of the Oakland harbor committee for five years, and as school trustee of East Oakland for a long time.
Succeeding generations have not robbed the Fisher family of the enterprise evinced by sixteenth century ancestors, who crossed the sea from Germany and became large planation owners near Providence, R. I. Later bearers of the name removed to Massachusetts, where they were known as agriculturists and seafaring people with sufficient ability to attain the best in their respective callings. Nehemiah C. Fisher, the father of George W. Fisher, was born in Massachusetts, and when not on the sea continued to make the state his home for his entire life. As a boy he shipped before the mast on a whaling vessel, and soon entered upon a series of promotions which eventually gave him command of a ship. The voice which commanded obedience above the roar of the tempest was guided by a grain of exceptional activity and shrewdness, and was supplemented by a physique which still exercised its vigor after the discharge of his cargoes in port. He became an expert in shipping interests, invested his savings in vessels, and aided in scattering the produce of the world to remote commercial centers. His seafaring life covered a period of forty years, and during that time he owned many ships and accumulated a large fortune.
The sea captain appreciated the value of ship discipline to such an extent that he took his son, George W., on several voyages, two of which were around Cape Horn and into the Arctic ocean. The lad spent four years on the deep, and joined the rest of his family in Massachusetts in 1858, soon afterward becoming identified with the jewelry firm of Sacket, Davis & Company of Boston. At this time he was eighteen years old, and his varied experience had developed him to an extent far beyond the average. From the position of agent he arose to be general agent, and in time manager of the Boston office, remaining in the latter capacity until 1864. During 1864-65 he served his country in the commissary department, and after the war went to Pennsylvania and engaged successfully in the oil business. When he came to California in 1868 he had laid the foundation of his present ample fortune.
Arriving in San Francisco February 18, 1868, Mr. Fisher became interested in real estate, and during the first year cleared over $30,000. Realizing the speculative and transitory nature of the business, he embarked in mining in 1870, again proving himself master of the situation, and clearing, during the first five years $146,000. The following five years proved equally successful and more than usually strenuous, resulting in the penalty of broken health and the necessity for physical and mental relaxation. Consequently, Mr. Fisher followed medical advice and traveled and rested in the Sandwich Islands for a time, still retaining possession of the valuable properties which today render him a large mine owner. Upon the organization of the Puget Sound Lumber Company in 1885 Mr. Fisher became manager of the company, and during the intervening years his keen judgment and comprehensive knowledge of the business have become too well known and appreciated to require more than passing mention. This giant lumbering industry of the coast country had no more reliable director of its development, or one better posted as to the enorminty and variety of its output. In May, 1904, the company disposed of its lumber interests in Oakland and Mr. Fisher immediately incorporated the Fisher Lumber Company, which company and business are even greater than the former. Mr. Fisher is manager of the new company.
Mr. Fisher’s permanent association with Oakland began in 1885, since which time he has invested heavily in real estate, and has allied himself with the most intelligent improvement of the town. His hospitable home is presided over by his wife, formerly Abbie B. Holmes, a native of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have taken in their home a granddaughter, Berrita M. Fisher, daughter of Frank H. Fisher, an only and deceased son. In the estimation of those familiar with his business methods and steady rise to prominence in the city, Mr. Fisher represents the best type of those industrial business men whose zeal is reflected in the splendid prosperity of California, and who teach the worth of relentless determination, of singleness of purpose, and adaptiveness in grasping and utilizing a waiting opportunity.
Transcribed
Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 379-380. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Joyce Rugeroni.
BACK TO GOLDEN NUGGET LIBRARY'S ALAMEDA DATABASES