Biographies
FRED E. CONNER
The name of Fred E. Conner has come to be regarded in Sacramento as a synonym for progress and advancement, for his activities have been of such a character as to promote business and municipal growth. He stands as a central figure in the business and civic life of the city, a man whose ability has won personal success, but whose success has been worthily and continuously used for upright and honorable ends. As president and manager of the Sacramento Lumber Company, he occupies a position of influence in the business circles of the city; but this one connection does not measure the full scope of his activities, which have had a formative influence in shaping and directing the business progress of central California.
Sacramento is the native city of Mr. Conner, and he is the son of Caswell L. and Elizabeth (Clark) Conner, the former a native of Alabama, where he was the owner of a large plantation. Caswell L. Conner came to California in 1865, but lived only a few years after his arrival. Mrs. Conner passed away in 1912, in Santa Ana, Cal. When Fred E. Conner was a small child his parents removed to Santa Ana, where he received his education in the grammar and high schools, supplementing his high school training with a business course. Early in life he decided to take up the lumbering business for his life-work. Starting at the beginning, he gradually worked his way up in Santa Ana and Los Angeles, and eventually came to Sacramento to become manager of the Sacramento Lumber Company on June 27, 1914, which position he filled for the next five years. Then, in partnership with J. W. S. Butler, he purchased the plant, which since 1919 has been greatly improved, and the business has steadily grown under the wise supervision of Mr. Conner.
The marriage of Mr. Conner united him with Miss Addie L. Merriam, of Los Angeles. In politics, Mr. Conner is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner; and he belongs to Sunset Parlor, No. 26, N.S.G.W. He served as a director of the Chamber of Commerce, was president of the Sacramento Valley Lumbermen’s Club, was president of the first Builders’ Exchange of Sacramento, and is a past president of the Rotary Club, a charter member of the Del Paso Country Club, and a member of the Supreme Nine in the Hoo-Hoo Organization of Lumbermen of the United States.
Transcribed
by Patricia Seabolt.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Page 424 –
427. Historic Record Company, Los
Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Patricia Seabolt.