Placer
County
Biographies
ALBERT W. KENISON
While there is to some extent truth
in the claim that is made, that city politics are corrupt, it will be found
that throughout this land in the smaller cities and towns, men of ability,
loyal in citizenship and faithful to public trusts are filling official positions. Such a one is Albert Wesley Kenison, who is
now serving on the board of supervisors of Placer County. He is a native of the far-off state of New
Hampshire, his birth having occurred in Jefferson on the 13th of
January, 1855. The blood of English and
Scotch-Irish ancestors flows in his veins, but the family has long been
represented in the new world and is strictly American in thought, purpose and
sympathy. His great-grandfather,
Benjamin Kenison, emigrated from Ireland and located in the state of
Massachusetts, where the grandfather was born.
The father, Benjamin R. Kenison, was born in New Hampshire. The latter married Miss Fanny Moulton, whose
father, Nathan Moulton, was of Scotch lineage, while her mother was of English
descent. They spent their married life
in the old Granite state. Mr. Kenison
attained the advanced age of seventy-two years, while his wife passed away in
her sixty-eighth year. They had eight
children, five sons and three daughters, three of the sons and two of the
daughters surviving. The parents were
respected farming people and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Albert Wesley Kenison is the only
member of the family in California. He
was educated in the public schools and reared to manhood in his native
town. The year of 1876 witnessed his
arrival on the Pacific coast. He had
just attained the majority and came to the west hoping that better business opportunities
would be afforded him in this part of the country. He located in Rocklin, Placer County, where
he was employed in a hotel, after which he spent a year in San Francisco. Subsequently he returned to Rocklin and in
1879 bought an interest in a mine called the Dam claim on the Forest Hill
divide, where he remained one year. With
the capital he had acquired through his own efforts he opened a mercantile
store at Bath in 1880. There he carried
on business for seven years, with good success, but in 1887 he sold his
enterprise there and came to Auburn, where he has since engaged in the
wholesale and retail liquor business, also dealing in carbonate beverages. In this he has prospered, his sales reaching
extensive proportions and in 1898 he built the fine large block which bears his
name. It is fifty by seventy-five feet
and two stories and a basement in height.
It is fitted throughout with every modern convenience and facility for
carrying on his large business. Nearby
he has also erected a building for his extensive bottling works, the structure
being sixty by eighty feet, supplied with all the newest appliances for bottling
his products. He is also the owner of
the Auburn Theater, the building adjoining his own. The theater is fifty by one hundred and sixty-five
feet, splendidly constructed for the purpose used, and tastefully finished and
furnished throughout in modern style. It
has a large stage and beautiful scenery, and is a theater that would be a
credit to a city of much larger size than Auburn. It will be seen that Mr. Kenison has been
actively connected with the business interests of the town and has contributed
in a large measure to the improvement and substantial progress of the city. He is recognized as a popular and successful
businessman and his efforts have certainly been of benefit to Auburn.
In politics Mr. Kenison has been a
life-long Democrat and in 1896 he became a candidate on the ticket of the party
for the office of supervisor of Placer County.
In that position he has served for the past four years and therein has
labored untiringly for the welfare of the community. His efforts were largely instrumental in
securing the erection of the county hospital, which is a credit to the people
in this portion of the state, indicating their charity and kindness. It was erected at a cost of fifteen thousand
dollars and its furnishings have made an additional cost of ten thousand. It furnishes a good home for the indigent old
people of the county, for there those who have outlived the years of activity
can spend their remaining days in quiet and comfort. Mr. Kenison is a prominent member of the
Masonic fraternity, belonging to the lodge, chapter and commandery.
March 31, 1879, he was married to
Mary McCormick, a native of Placer County and a daughter of James D. McCormick,
who formerly served as the county sheriff.
They have four sons and one daughter, namely: Francis, Albert, James, Benjamin and Mary Teressa. There is one of the pleasant homes in Auburn
and the family are highly respected in the community
in which Mr. Kenison is known as a reliable and successful businessman.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 401-403. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.