WILLIAM P. DWYER
A
well-known citizen of Sacramento, the representative of a pioneer family, is
William P. Dwyer, president of the Sacramento Transportation Company, which has
grown and flourished under his management.
Sacramento is his birthplace, where he was born October 30, 1876, a son
of Capt. Thomas and Ellen (Flanagan) Dwyer, both natives of Ireland. Thomas Dwyer was born in 1831, and was
endowed with a spirit of enterprise; and when, in 1848, some acquaintances try
to persuade him to go with them to New World, he readily consented. He came to Toronto, in all of the vigor of
his young manhood, and there commenced the battle of his life. He engaged in the lumber trade, working at
that during the winter, and on a farm during the summer. In 1852 he came to the United States, going
to Ohio; and there he obtained his first contract work, the getting out of a
certain number of railroad ties. After
this he came to Lake County, Illinois, and again worked on farms in the summer,
going to the pine woods of Wisconsin in the winter, where sometimes for six
weeks continuously the sun never melted the snow from the sides of the trees
nor from the roof of his shanty.
In
1859, and during the Pike's Peak excitement, in company with a party of
friends, Thomas Dwyer started for the gold diggings; on which the Missouri
River at Council Bluffs, they learned that Pike's Peak gold excitement was a
humbug, and some of the party turned back; but Thomas Dwyer and his partner
struck out boldly for California, the land of golden sunshine. They came with ox teams, after a journey of
five months arrived in Susanville on September 3, 1859. He spent a year in mines of Shasta County,
and went to Chico during the following summer and ran a thrashing-machine in
Butte and Colusa Counties. When the
season's farm work was over, he brought some timber-land on the Sacramento
River in Colusa County, and commenced cutting the woods; he got together about
2,500 cords, taking in a partner to share the expense, bought a wood barge, and
brought the wood down to Sacramento, where he could dispose of it to these
schooners in the river. This was the
origin of what is today known as Sacramento Transportation Company. He afterward bought a small steamer to tow
his barges. About this time, in 1866,
J. H. Roberts, H. L. Miller, Michael Rigney, N. McNear, and C. Clots were added
to the firm, which was then known as the Sacramento Wood Company. In 1879 the name was changed to the
Sacramento Transportation Company, and the firm was incorporated under the laws
of the state.
Notwithstanding
the California Steam Navigation Company was running in opposition to them,
their business steadily grew from year to year. Increased towing facilities being required, the "Verona"
was added to their fleet in 1873; the "San Joaquin No. 2," in 1877;
the "San Joaquin No. 4," in 1882; the "Governor Dana,"
"Dover," and "Flora," in 1883; and in 1889 another steamer
was added. At that time the company
operated a fleet of twenty barges, which have been added to from time to time
to accommodate their fast-growing trade.
In
1881 the company engaged in the manufacturer of brick, erecting kilns on the
Riverside road, five miles below the Sacramento where they used the
most-approved appliances. In 1888 a new
patent system was introduced, called the continuous kilns, with a capacity of
60,000 bricks per diem; they also had in operation four Quaker brick machines,
with a capacity of 140,000 daily.
In
1868 Thomas Dwyer was married to Ellen Flanagan; and they had five children:
Francis Thomas, Mary Ellen (Mrs. Robert T. Devlin), John Jeffrey, William
Patrick, of this sketch, and Thomas Edward.
Mr. Dwyer died in 1890, and Mrs. Dwyer in 1896.
William
P. Dwyer obtained his education in the Brothers' College and at St. Mary's in
Oakland, graduating with the class of 1891.
When he reached young manhood he was taught the transportation business,
so that when his father passed away it was an easy matter for him to continue
the business along the lines inaugurated by his father. In 1923 the plant was remodeled and the most
modern equipment was installed to replace the old, the capacity being increased
to 30,000,000 brick annually. All
handwork is eliminated, and a superior product is manufactured; the plant runs
continuously, the year round.
William
P. Dwyer was united in marriage in San Francisco with Miss Ethel Clare, a
native of that city; and they are the parents of four sons: William Patrick,
Jr., Thomas Robert, Richard Collins, and Peter Guilford. Mr. Dwyer is a Republican in politics; and
fraternally he is a member of the Elks, the Sutter and Del Paso Country Clubs
of Sacramento, and the Family Club of San Francisco. He has contributed in a large measure to the upbuilding and
improvement of the part of the county in which he makes his home, for he
belongs to that class of representative American men who, while promoting their
individual progress and success, also contribute substantially to the general
prosperity.
Source:
History of Sacramento County California capital with Biographical Sketches by
G. Walter Reed 1923. Page 603.
Transcribed
by Nancy Pratt Melton.
© 2004 Nancy Pratt
Melton.