Sacramento County
Biographies
PHILLIP S. DRIVER
PHILLIP S. DRIVER.--A gentleman of scholarly attainments who made a success of
his chosen profession, in which he acquired distinction and influence, was the
late Philip Sample Driver, who passed away at his home on March 26, 1923, a native son of the Golden State, having been born near Antelope, Sacramento
County, on June 14, 1862.
His father was Elisha Sample Driver, a pioneer of
1849, who became a prosperous rancher and one of the highly respected citizens
of Sacramento County. He was born in Indiana on April 18, 1829, the son of John and Abigail (Mills) Driver, and was left
an orphan when scarcely more than a babe, on which account he came to live in
the home of his uncle until 1836. He then went to Henry County, Iowa, where he
made his home with another uncle until 1849.
Lured to California by the discovery of gold, he started across the great plains for the Coast on March 25, 1849, traveling with ox-teams and wagons; and he had a trying
experience, being compelled to fight the Indians on four different occasions.
He reached California safely, however, arriving at Hangtown,
now Placerville, on August 1, 1850,
and he followed mining on the American
River until 1854, but with less success than he had anticipated.
He therefore came to Sacramento and engaged in teaming to the mines,
and finding it profitable he continued until 1857, when he was able to purchase
1,200 acres near Antelope, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, and
amassed a comfortable fortune; and he continued to supervise his large affairs
until his death, in 1913. His good wife was Mary E. Forsythe before her
marriage, and she was born in Missouri. In 1853, she crossed the plains with her parents, and she
was permitted to enjoy their companionship until 1903. The worthy pioneer
couple had twelve children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, among whom Philip,
our subject, was the second eldest.
Philip S. Driver spent his boyhood on his
father's ranch, where he made himself generally useful, and he mastered the
chores or tasks required of him, at the same time attending the public schools.
Then he matriculated at the University of the Pacific at San Jose, from which
he was duly graduated in 1888, with the Ph.B. degree,
after which he took up the study of law in the office of Grove L. Johnson,
father of Hiram, (now United States Senator), and Albert Johnson, then in
partnership. In October, 1890, having passed the required examination, he was
admitted to the bar of the state. He began the practice of law with a partner, William
M. Sims, under the firm name of Driver & Sims, and their relations
continued amicable and mutually helpful until Mr. Sims removed to San
Francisco, when Mr. Driver's brother, Benjamin F., who had graduated from the
University of California and had been admitted to the bar, joined him in
practice under the firm name of Driver & Driver, which became well and
honorably known, and a real power among the legal profession of Sacramento
County. In 1918, Philip S. Driver was admitted to practice in the United States
Supreme Court at Washington D.C. Mr. Driver's first offices were in the Quinn Building, opposite the California National Bank on J Street; and later he had offices on the Farmers and Mechanics
Bank building, on Eighth
Street. The firm
had a large clientele, and a very extensive practice
in civil law, for they were the attorneys for various reclamation districts.
Mr. Driver was a well-posted lawyer, and an able counsellor;
he was conservative and strictly honest in all of his actions and dealings; and
his clients had the utmost confidence in his judgment and dependability.
Mr. Driver was also greatly interested in
agriculture, and owned valuable ranch interests in the Natomas
Farms tract, and these farms he brought to a high state of cultivation. He also
owned real estate in Sacramento, and was interested in various corporations. He thus
served society in the dual function of the professional man and the man of
practical affairs; and he was among the relatively few members of the bar,
perhaps, who substantially forwarded the agricultural industry in California.
The marriage of Mr. Driver occurred in Los Gatos, Santa
Clara County, on June 30, 1892,
and united him, at one of the prettiest weddings of the year, with Miss
Elizabeth Gober, who was a native daughter and had
been born in Santa Clara. Her father, the Rev. W. R. Gober,
was a native of Georgia, and was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, and was admitted to the Mississippi Conference in
November, 1844, where he did valiant and faithful work until he came out to California in the early fifties. In 1851 he made his way to California by way of the Isthmus
of Panama as a missionary,
organizing congregations and building churches in the newly admitted Golden State. Some time after the war, he united with the Methodist
Episcopal Church-- his action dating in the year 1872--for he felt that it was
incompatible with true Christianity to have two churches, and so from then
until his death he was energetic and faithful in building up that church in California. He served as a presiding elder for many years, working in
the San Francisco, Napa, and Sacramento, as well as in other districts, and
from the time that he crossed into California, he was greatly interested in the
University of the Pacific, gave it his hearty support, and took great pride in
the growth of the institution, and the high standard of scholarship maintained
by faculty and students. After he was superannuated, he was chaplain of Folsom
Prison for some years; and when he passed away at his home in College Park, San
Jose, on March 13, 1908, he had seen nearly sixty years of service in the ministry
in California, and had rounded out a very useful life, full of good
works and sacrifices. He was delegate to the General Conference in 1892, and he
served as a member of the assembly of the California Legislature from Santa Clara County, and afterwards was chaplain of the legislature during
many sessions. He was a prominent Mason, being a member of Tehama Lodge, F.
& A. M., in Sacramento. Mr. Gober was married at Vicksburg, Miss., on July 8, 1852,
to Miss Nanny Porter Beasley, a native daughter of Virginia, and came immediately with his bride to his missionary
field in California. She was a gifted, lovable woman; and as his devoted
widow, survived him until December, 1908. The estimable and highly esteemed
couple had six children, four of whom attained maturity; and three of these are
now living: Dr. R. P. Gober and Mrs. J. W. Boyd
living at Los Gatos, and the other child being a daughter, named Elizabeth. Mrs. Driver was also graduated from the College of the
Pacific, and in the same year as was her husband, in 1888; and she received the
same degree of Ph.B., having majored in music, a
subject she continued to study, under Frank Louis King, receiving, in 1890, the
degree of Bachelor of Music. Then she taught in the Conservatory under
Professor King until her marriage with Mr. Driver, which was blessed in the
gift of six children, four of whom are still living. Philip Roland passed
away in his tenth year. Robert S. is a graduate of Stanford
University, having received his A. B. degree with the class of 1921,
and he is now in the law offices of Messrs. Driver & Driver. He volunteered
for service in the World War, and joined the motor transport service of the
Quartermaster's department, and served at the presidio until he was sent to
Camp Upton as dispatcher for ten months, when he was transferred to Buffalo, N.
Y., and was commissioned a second lieutenant, and was under orders to go
overseas when the armistice was signed. He is a member of the Theta Delta Chi
and Phi Delta Phi, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. Keith Porter also died, at the age of three years.
Earl Paxton was a student at Stanford for two years, but he is now attending
the University of California as a member of the class of 1924. He belongs to the Theta
Delta Chi, and is a thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Mason, and is a charter
member of the Ben Ali Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Sacramento. Elizabeth and John Arrendall
are attending the Sacramento high school.
This fruitful activity in college and
university circles on the part of her children is a very natural source of
gratification to Mrs. Driver, for when she was at the University of the
Pacific, she was a prominent leader in the academic and social life of the
collegiate institution. She brought the first chapter of the Kappa Alpha Theta
sorority to the University of the Pacific, and later founded the first chapter
of the sorority at the University of California. She is now a consistent and an active member of Grace
Methodist Episcopal Church in Sacramento, and takes a very active part in its various societies and
benevolences. The late Mr. Driver was a prominent Mason, having been a member
of Tehama Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M., Sacramento, in which he was a past master. He was a thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a past master of the Kadosh,
and was made a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor, and was a charter member
of Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Sacramento, and a member of the Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity. He was also a member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in Sacramento, and gave it substantial support. He was very prominent in
Republican political movements, and served as chairman of the city and also of
the county central committee of that party. He was a member of the board of
education for ten years, six of which he was president. He had built the
beautiful residence at 2019 Twenty-first Street, where he resided in comfort
and happiness with his family; but despite his exemplary and useful life, of
such service and inspiration to many, he was not permitted to enjoy the fruits
of his labors; and his passing away, on March 26, 1923, was both a shock and a
great loss to the people of northern California. He was deeply mourned by both
his family and a large circle of admiring and grateful friends, who still love
and fondly think of him, and who will never cease to revere the memory of Philip
Driver - patriot, scholar and Christian gentleman, and one of the foremost
citizens of Sacramento County.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Pages 276-277. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.