Los Angeles County

Biographies

 

 

 

 

 

WILLIAM GEORGE KERCKHOFF

 

 

     KERCKHOFF, WILLIAM GEORGE, Capitalist and Banker, President, Pacific Light and

Power Corporation, Los Angeles, California, was born March 30, 1856, at Terre Haute, Indiana, the son of George Kerckhoff and Philippine (Newhart) Kerckhoff.  He married Louise Eshman at Terre Haute, November 13, 1883.  They have two daughters, Gertrude and Marion Kerckhoff.

     Mr. Kerckhoff received his primary education in the public schools of his native city and at the Gymnasium Lingen, Province Hanover, Germany.

     After leaving school, he entered the business of his father in Terre Haute, where he continued until his removal to California in the fall of 1878.  This gave him a thorough knowledge of the wholesale saddler and jobbing saddlery hardware business.  After arriving in California he traveled throughout the State and following a thorough investigation he decided that Los Angeles, although then only a city of 10,000 people, gave the greatest promise of success.

     The spring following his location at Los Angeles, with two associates, he organized the firm of Jackson, Kerckhoff & Kuzner, lumber dealers, the firm later changing to the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill and Lumber Company, wherein began one of the great industrial enterprises that have done so much to develop the resources of Southern California.

     Mr. Kerckhoff with associates established a chain of yards and docks along the southern coast of California and wharves at San Pedro (Los Angeles Harbor.)  Their timber lands are situated in several Western States, with large mills on the Umpqua River, in Oregon.  They own a line of lumber vessels which ply between Pacific Coast ports.  The Company, with Mr. Kerckhoff as president, has become one of the gigantic enterprises of the West and the members of it are among the leading lumbermen of the country.

     In 1898, Mr. Kerckhoff sought another outlet for his energies, and with A. C. Balch, organized the San Gabriel Electric Company, which was the pioneer in Southern California water power development for electrical purposes.  Through this company, which utilized the water power of the San Gabriel river to generate electricity, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and twelve other cities were furnished with electric lighting and power.  This original company was the basis of one of the greatest light and power systems in the world and the work of Mr. Kerckhoff was a factor dominant in its success.  In time it was merged into the Pacific Light and Power Corporation, which now distributes light and power to all parts of Southern California.

     The success of the two pioneer companies was such that Mr. Kerckhoff and his associates subsequently organized the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation, and this company now distributes throughout the San Joaquin Valley from Merced to Bakersfield, with its plant and headquarters located at Fresno.  In addition the company owns and operates the electric railway and water plants at Fresno.

     In recognition of his ability, Mr. Kerckhoff was selected by Governor Budd of California as Commissioner to manage the Yosemite Valley, one of the world’s greatest scenic spots.  His work in this capacity was so successful that he was reappointed for a second term by Governor Gage.

     Mr. Kerckhoff has numerous active interests.  He is President of the Fresno Irrigated Farms Co. and of the First National Bank of Kerman, Cal., and is a director in the Farmers and Merchants’ National Bank, the Southern Trust Co., both of Los Angeles, and the S. P., L.A. &

S. L. Railroad.

     His clubs are: Bohemian and Pacific Union of San Francisco; Jonathan, Los Angeles Country and California, of Los Angeles, and Bolsa Chica Gun Club.

 

 

 

Transcribed 6-21-08 Marilyn R. Pankey.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I,  Page 77, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.  1913.

© 2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.

 

 

 

 

 

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It appears that one of Kerckhoff’s partnerships, that with Kuzner, caused the man to change the spelling of his name so he would not be competing with the Ks or was a different individual altogether.  M