HON. WILLIAM POWELL COLEMAN

Sacramento County

Biographies

HON. W. P. COLEMAN.—Mr. Coleman is one of the “Argonauts,” and very few, even among those men of history and adventure, have had a life more full of incident and interest than he. He was born in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky, in 1826, and there spent his younger days. When seventeen years of age he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended college for one year and was then apprenticed to the tobacco business. The conclusion of his apprenticeship occurred in the eventful period about 1849. Eager to test for himself the truth of the glowing reports that were flying over the land, young Coleman determined to set out for California. He made the trip overland in the uncommonly short space of ninety days, an unusually rapid and prosperous journey. The train by which he came was composed entirely of horse and mule teams, and thus made good headway. It was called the “Telegraph Train,” on account of the speed it made. Mr. Brolaski was the captain, and Mr. Coleman one of the teamsters. It happened that Senator Boggs was on his way at the same time with ox teams. A friendship sprang up between the companies, and the Senator was the means of rendering the others great assistance when at Carson River, as a portion of the mules broke down and were there converted into pack trains. Mr. Coleman went mining at first of course. By 1850, however, he had become tired of this, and opened a store at the junction of Greenwood Creek and American River, where Magnolia now is. His partner in the business was a gentleman named Smith, who sold the goods while young Coleman did the buying in Sacramento and teaming thence to the store. In 1851 Mr. Coleman came to Sacramento, where he has since remained and of which he has long been one of the most solid and reliable citizens of to-day the vast majority began with nothing but brains and grit. Mr. Coleman is no exception. He opened a little outfitting business on a very small scale on the very site which has since become thoroughly identified with his name, and where his representative real-estate office is situated, namely, No. 325 J street. The great fire of November, 1852, swept his establishment out of existence. Mr. Coleman happened to be in San Francisco at the time, purchasing goods. With the indomitable pluck born in the true American, he came back at once; succeeded in renting one-half of a store two doors above his old stand, opened out his goods, and by his energy gained quite a rich harvest for his enterprise, having his goods on sale by the 12^th of November. A month later he had obtained a new store, at a rental of $500 a month, fitted it up with lumber that cost him thirty-five cents a foot, and was soon “in full blast” again on a larger scale than ever. It speaks volumes for the strength of Mr. Coleman’s frame that he slept in the damp, new building while completing his arrangements, without suffering any ill effects from the exposure. At length, in 1860, having reaped the reward due to his energy, perseverance and the correctness of his business principles, Mr. Coleman decided to retire in order that he might enjoy at leisure, in the comforts of life, the ample means he had succeeded in accumulating. He decided to visit Europe; crossed the Atlantic, and was in Italy, after a tour of England and France, when he was notified by his banker in Paris that, on account of the civil war then raging, the transfer of funds between America and Europe was entirely stopped. He hastened back to Paris, and although the reputation for promptness and reliability he had made in California, and the knowledge of his ample means procured him every attention at the hands of the bankers, he nevertheless abandoned the trip, returned to America, and after a visit of some six months’ duration among his relatives in Kentucky, was back again in Sacramento, the home of his choice. The promise of retiring from business life is easier said that performed by one of so active and industrious a nature as is Mr. Coleman; and so it is not surprising that shortly after his return he was busy as a volunteer worker for the interest of the city, which was then raising the grade. He steadily refused all official honors. However, the office of corresponding secretary of the Pioneers’ Association was thrust upon him; and his frequent contributions of letters to the society are thoroughly appreciated and are of great value to that organization. In 1867 he finally opened his well-known real-estate office on J street, on the very lot where he had known the misfortunes and triumphs of his early days in this city. He no longer pays active attention to the business there, having turned it over to his juniors in the office, Messrs. E. A. Crouch and P. Bohl. It was in a portion of that office where the Sacramento Bank was first established, Mr. Coleman being one of the prominent stockholders and an original incorporator. Its correct methods of business, however, and careful management have given it great prosperity, and it is president since 1880, devoting the whole of his valuable experience in business and accurate knowledge of mankind to the interests of the institution. Under the management of himself and his associates the bank has grown to be one of our powerful financial institutions and conducts a business of great magnitude. He is a public-spirited citizen, of generous impulses taking a practical and leading part in all matters conducive to the public welfare, and a large contributor to all worthy and deserving causes. Personally he is one of the most large-hearted, jovial and companionable of men, a favorite with all classes of the community, ranking justly as one of our most worthy as well as most representative men. Mr. Coleman is a married man, but without children. Unfortunately, his wife has been an invalid almost from the first, but by his devoted attention and watchful care of her every want, her life has been prolonged until the present. It is but proper to state that this article is very incomplete, as Mr. Coleman could not be induced to give more than mere dates, and the balance of the article is compiled from other sourcess.

Transcribed by Karen Pratt.

Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. Pages 569-571. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.