Los Angeles County
Biographies
FRANK PAGE BACON
The late Frank Page Bacon, who will long be remembered as one of the outstanding business leaders of his generation in San Francisco, had reached the eightieth milestone on his life’s journey when he passed away at his home in Los Angeles, April 3, 1928. To have attained the extreme fullness of years and to have had one’s ken broadened to a comprehension of all that has been accomplished within the flight of many days, is of itself sufficient to render consonant a detailed consideration of such a life in a work of this order, but in the case at hand there are more pertinent, more distinguished elements – those of usefulness, of marked intellectuality, of broad charity, which lift high in reverence the subjective personality of one who stood as one of nature’s noblemen, “foursquare to every wind that blows.”
Frank Page Bacon was born in St. Louis, Missouri, April 4, 1848, his parents being Henry Douglas and Julia Ann (Page) Bacon, whom he accompanied on their removal to san Francisco, California, in the early ‘60s. Henry D. Bacon there established the Page-Bacon Bank, a financial institution which rose to the front rank in the early pioneer days of this picturesque city of the west coast. He was offered the portfolio of secretary of state in President Lincoln’s first cabinet.
Afforded liberal educational advantages in his youth, Frank P. Bacon attended the public schools of his native city and completed his intellectual training in France and Germany. He was founder and developer of the Globe Iron Works of San Francisco, one of the largest industrial plants on the Pacific coast, of which he served as president for many years prior to his retirement in 1906. Probably his greatest hobby was the collecting of books, of which he was a constant reader. He designed specially constructed bookcases, the outer case being on hinges which gave access to the volumes within. He was a life member of the Mechanical [sic] Institute of San Francisco, which he joined in the old days when it was known as the Mercantile Library, and he also held membership in the Patriotic Sons of America. His religious faith was that of the Congregational Church.
In early manhood Mr. Bacon married Miss Emily F. Tibbey, who was born in San Francisco, a daughter of Charles J. and Mary Ann Tibbey and a granddaughter of captain William H. Tibbey, a master mariner and California pioneer of 1846. Mrs. Bacon figured prominently in educational activities in San Francisco for many years. She now resides in the beautiful home at 2615 Ellendale place in Los Angeles that was designed and built by Mr. Bacon and herself. The sunset of life has many sweet memories of the happy years spent together with her husband, and she devotes her time to carrying out the fine ideals that both enjoyed together.
“Frank Page Bacon,” said one who knew him well, “ had the true American’s faculty of doing intense, accurate work. He had an American’s way of meeting his most stunning success and his hardest bumps with the same whimsical, humorous philosophy. He was a good loser, but he was also what is much finer and rarer, a good winner because a generous, modest one. But, above every other characteristic, his God-given charitable nature predominated. . . . Large of mind and heart, his character was sane, clean, distinct and marked by loyalty to himself and to others. He placed true values upon men and affairs and his philosophy of life was generous and kindly, marked by deep insight but free from intolerance and stoical indifference. His sympathy for those less fortunate was intense. He considered himself as God’s trustee for the moderate wealth he had accumulated in the course of an active life. Freely and generously he gave to the Salvation Army, Near East Relief, the Bible Institute, Midnight Mission, hospitals, and all kinds of charitable organizations shared bountifully and from his ever-open hand and generous heart. His appreciation of the humorous side of life was keen. He won and retained friends and played well his part on the stage of life’s activities. He loved the world and the world loved him, and better than this can scarcely be said of any man.”
Transcribed by K.V. Bunker.
Source: California
of the South Vol. V,
by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 660-662,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2013 K.V. Bunker.
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