Butte County
Biographies
HON. GEORGE CLEMENT PERKINS
HON.
GEORGE CLEMENT PERKINS.--A record of the life of George C. Perkins, former
governor of California, and for many years United States Senator from the
Golden State, is in some respects a chapter in the history of the rise and
progress of California. A resident of the state for more than fifty years, and,
by reason of his identification with the development of its various resources
during the constructive period of the state, and his intimate association with
its most vital interests from the early history of its statehood, he is
regarded as one of its most representative citizens, a man whose broad
experience in affairs of the state and of the nation entitles his opinion on
questions of general public interest to thoughtful consideration.
Mr. Perkins' earliest recollections
take him back to the seaport town of Kennebunkport, Maine, where he was born
August 23, 1839. Of English descent, his ancestry can be traced back to the
days when Sir Ferdinand Georges received from James II, a patent to the
territory lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels and was
appointed governor-general of New England. His father, Clement Perkins, engaged
as a sailor and officer of vessels, trading with the West Indies, and along the
coast of New England. While Mr. Perkins takes pardonable pride in his paternal
ancestry, his antecedents on his mother's side are no less distinguished, his
mother, formerly Lucinda Fairfield, being a relative of Governor Fairfiel, and also of Governor King, the first governor of
Maine after its separation from Massachusetts.
Mr. Perkins recalls his early
boyhood training as one of the most rigid and, in some respects, cheerless
experiences of his life. Before and after school, which he attended three
months out of the year, he worked on the home farm or that of his uncle
Stephen, and the remainder of the year was spent in a similar manner. The
duties, which were irksome in themselves, were made more so from the fact that
they had no bearing whatever upon the chief ambition of his life, namely, to
become captain of a vessel. With this idea ever in his mind, he devoured
whatever information he could find in the line of mathematics, geography and
navigation, and when only thirteen years of age applied for a position as
cabin-boy on the new ship Golden Eagle, about to sail for New Orleans. Meeting
with refusal on account of his youth, he secreted himself on the ship, and,
after leaving port, on being discovered was made a cabin-boy. He made seven
voyages between New Orleans, other ports in the United States and Europe. If
his experiences could be recounted they would read like a romance. During one
of his voyages on the ship Luna, he fell in with an old sailor who had recently
returned from California, and it was largely through the persuasions of his
shipmate that he determined to seek his fortune in the Golden State. His voyage
to San Francisco was made by Cape Horn, on the clipper ship Galatea.
He remained in the city by the
Golden Gate only long enough to earn the money to provide himself
with the necessary equipment to proceed to the mines, to which he, like
thousands of others, was attracted by the reports of fabulous wealth having
been secured by others. Working his passage to Sacramento, he walked from there
to Butte and Sierra Counties, carrying his blankets and provisions on his back.
An experience of several months of mining in Butte, Plumas and Sierra Counties,
lessened his mining ardor considerably, but nevertheless he went to the Fraser
River, excitement in that region being then at its height. Still unsuccessful,
and with funds exhausted, he wisely decided to give up mining entirely and once
more made his way to Sacramento, working his passage on a steamboat. From the
latter city he walked to the mining-camp of Ophir,
now Oroville, Butte County, where for a time he drove
a team of mules and later worked as porter in a store. Frugal habits and the
exercise of rigid economy at last resulted in the accumulation of eight
hundred dollars, which, in addition to twelve hundred dollars borrowed from
friends and acquaintances, was used in the purchase of a ferry at Long's Bar. On selling out a short time afterwards he
realized a profit of one thousand dollars. Later he accepted a clerkship with
the firm for which he had worked at a salary of sixty dollars per month, and it
was not long before he started into business for himself.
An incident occurred in relation to
the navigation of Feather River between Oroville and Marysville which may be of
interest to some of Butte County's residents. In the winter of 1860 there was
an extensive flood of water which overflowed the banks of the rivers and creeks
and impeded the transportation of freight by teams, the roads being impassable.
In the dilemma young Perkins conceived the idea of transporting supplies by
water for Oroville and adjacent mining camps. He therefore took a rowboat and
started down the river with a companion named Jim Downs, a sailor, towards
Marysville. Downs, unknown to Perkins, was "loaded up" with whiskey
and with another bottle in his pocket. All went well until, about seven miles
from Oroville, when crossing a riffle the boat half filled with water and Downs
declared he would go no further as he did not want to be drowned in fresh
water. He was then put ashore on a bluff of land near "Charley's
Ranch," and Perkins continued on his voyage, reaching Marysville late at
night. The following day Perkins chartered the stern-wheel steamboat Samuel
Soul and loaded her with about one hundred tons of merchandise, returning to Oroville
three days later with her cargo, landing at the place which is now called
Chinatown. The steamboat made two more trips between Marysville and Oroville, then abandoned the route on account of the accumulation of
debris washed down by the rains from the hills, which obstructed navigation on
the river.
Ambitious for still greater
progress, he erected a flour mill, and, through strict attention to business,
liberal and fair dealing, gradually increased his operations until his trade in
general merchandise, produce and provisions amounted to one half million of
dollars annually. When it is remembered that he at this time was little more
than twenty years of age, it leaves no room for doubt that he possessed indomitable
spirit and that his early successes were but the foreshadowing of a more
prosperous career. Besides interesting himself to some extent in lumbering and
mining, and in raising and selling live stock, at Chico, in 1873, in connection
with N. D. Rideout and others, he established the
Bank of Butte County, becoming a director. Later an association was formed with
the firm of Goodall and Nelson, the name becoming Goodall, Nelson and Perkins, this in time becoming
incorporated as the Goodall, Nelson and Perkins
Steamship Company, and finally becoming merged into the Pacific Coast Steamship
Company. From a nucleus of a few small steam vessels, they added to their
capacity as increasing business demanded, until twenty-one steamers under their
name plied the coast from Sitka, Alaska, to Mexico.
Mr. Perkins was also largely
interested in railroad which extended from Cuffey's
Cove to the red-wood timberlands of Mendocino County, besides being president
of the Pacific Coast Railway, whose course ran through Santa Barbara and San
Luis Obispo Counties, terminating at Port Harford. The interests of the
corporation known as Starr and Company, operating flour mills at Vallejo and
Port Costa, were greatly augmented by the business experience and conservative
judgment of Mr. Perkins, who was one of the directors, holding the same office
in the California State Bank at Sacramento, the First National Bank of San
Francisco, the latter ranking among the strongest financial institutions on the
Pacific Coast. Mr. Perkins was for two terms president of the San Francisco
Chamber of Commerce and the Art Association, and has been a trustee of the
Academy of Sciences since 1880. He is also a member of the principal social and
literary clubs of San Francisco, Oakland and Washington, D. C.
While Mr. Perkins has been a successful
merchant, farmer, miner and sailor, it is in the capacity of the "servant
of the people," a title which he is proud to bear, that he has won his
most lasting laurels. His political career may be said to date from 1860, at
which time he cast his first vote, this being for Abraham Lincoln for president
of the United States. On the ticket of the Republican party,
in a very strong Democratic district, he was elected to the state senate in
1869, for the senatorial district of Butte County, serving in the sessions of
1869-1870 and 1871-1872. In 1873 he was elected to fill the unexpired term of
Senator David Boucher, who passed away in September, 1872, the latter's
district covering Butte, Plumas and Lassen Counties. The encomiums of praise
which arose as the result of his faithful public service came alike from
Democratic and Republican sources, all agreeing that his liberal ideas,
business-like methods and independent thinking, wherein was found no trace of
self-seeking, made him an ideal public servant.
One of the greatest honors that can
fall to an American citizen is to preside over the affairs of a sovereign state
as its chief executive. This honor came to Mr. Perkins in 1879, when he was
elected Governor of California, having a plurality of more than twenty-two
thousand votes over each of his opponents, a record unparalleled in the history
of California politics. Through the recommendation and efforts of Governor
Perkins, was established one of the most important industries carried on in any
penal institution in the state, namely, the great jute-bag manufacturing
industry at San Quentin. During his career as chief executive of the state,
many measures were introduced that were very fruitful, but in none of them did
he take more pride than in the fact that during his administration the state
prisons had become practically self-supporting. The jute mill established at
San Quentin and the granite quarry at Folsom were successful. During his
administration many public buildings were erected. In 1886 he was one of the
Republican candidates for United States Senator, and although he received a
large vote the choice fell to Leland Stanford. In the first year of Mr.
Stanford's second term, Mr. Perkins was appointed, on July 24, 1893, to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of the former, taking his seat in the United
States Senate on the eighth day of August, in the same year. In January, 1895,
he was elected by the state legislature on the first ballot to fill the
unexpired term, discharging his duties for nearly two years before he became a
regular candidate for the ensuing long term of senator. In the fall of 1896, as
a candidate, he received endorsement from Republican County Conventions
comprising a majority of the senatorial and assembly districts of the state,
and in January, 1897, was reelected by the legislature on the first ballot. A
reelection followed in 1903, his popularity being attested by receiving every
vote of the Republican members of the legislature, while his election was made
unanimous upon a motion from a Democratic member. During his long service in
the senate he served on many very important committees. After the expiration of
his last term as senator he would not consent to again be a candidate and is
now living retired on his beautiful place at Oakland.
If one characteristic more than
another is prominent in the makeup of Ex-Senator Perkins, it is the altruistic
spirit which he shows in whatever he undertakes to do. Many there are today who
can rise up and call him blessed, for the words of encouragement and good
cheer, to say nothing of financial assistance, which have been bestowed at the
critical moment, when hope had fled and life seemed not worth living. People of
wealth were aroused from their inertia by his stirring lectures in behalf of
the churches and benevolent institutions during the course of his official
career, and in his private life the cause of charity and philanthropy has in
him one of its stanchest allies. He has been
president of the Boys and Girls' Aid Society of San Francisco since 1882, in
which he is an enthusiastic worker in retrieving young boys and girls from
lives of crime and degradation toward which they have taken the first step. Mr.
Perkins is also identified with many other benevolent interests, including the Ladies'
Relief Society of Oakland, Masonic relief boards, Old Ladies' Home, Young Men's
Christian Association, and the Seamen's Bethels, to which he contributes
freely, as well as to churches of all denominations.
During his term as governor he
pardoned and commuted the sentences of more prisoners than any other governor
of the state, but in no instance did he act until he had personally interviewed
the prisoner and had learned the story of his life and investigated the facts
in the case which resulted in his conviction. That he did not abuse the great
power which for the time was vested in him, is evidenced by the fact that only
one of the many who received executive clemency at his hands was ever returned
to prison charged with a penal offense.
In Oroville, Cal., in 1864, Mr.
Perkins was united in marriage with Miss Ruth A. Parker, a native of Cork, and
the daughter of an English officer in the excise service. Four daughters and
three sons blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Perkins. Fraternally, Mr. Perkins
is a Mason, having joined the organization in 1860 at Oroville, and has served
in nearly all of the offices, and was chosen Most Worshipful Grand Master of
the Grand Lodge of the State. In 1833 he was elected Grand Commander of the
Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State of
California. He was also elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Encampment,
Knights Templar, of the United States. He is also a member of the military
order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (California Commandery),
his election being a recognition of services rendered
during the Civil War. He was aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. John Bidwell, with rank of Captain, during the Civil War, and
was a member of Oroville National Guards.
Those who know Mr. Perkins best, the
representatives of the younger generation as well as those who, like him, have
spent many years in useful operations in California, freely accord him a place
among the public-spirited and kind-hearted citizens of the state; and in him
they find a man whose support of all worthy movements, calculated to enhance
the commercial, industrial and social standing of the commonwealth, comes from
entirely unselfish motives. These characteristics have made his life what it
has been--a source of inspiration to those young men of the present generation
whose only hope of reward may be found in doing what lies before them in the
line of duty, with a firm determination to adhere to a policy of integrity,
application and perseverance.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 433-436, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2006 Sande Beach.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies