Biographies
CHARLES J. ELLIS
The staple productions of the Sacramento
valley are of a nature so diversified and an aggregate so enormous that to
properly handle and ship the output demands freight facilities the equal of
those furnished by the railroads to any other portion of the great west. No
less is it incumbent upon railroad officials to place the management of the
work in this section with an agent thoroughly familiar with every detail. The
appointment of Charles J. Ellis as freight agent at Sacramento was, therefore,
a recognition of his abilities on the part of officials of the Southern Pacific
Railroad, with which he had been long and honorably associated in other
capacities. Natural ability supplemented by fine educational advantages, qualifies
him for important responsibilities and enables him to protect the interests of
the shippers, while at the same time advancing the general business of the
railroad.
Into the home of Charles and Emma Ellis at
Burlington, Iowa, Charles J. Ellis was born in May of 1850. His early
recollections cluster around Burlington, then an important river town with
large shipping interests. After he had received his primary schooling there he
was sent to England in 1862 and entered the Mechanics' Institute at Leeds, where
he carried out the regular course of study for two years. Later he was a
student in a business college at Leeds for six months. Upon his return to
America he secured a clerkship in the office of an architect at Burlington
and there he continued for six years, meanwhile mastering the details of
architecture and fitting himself for the profession. However, the work was not
wholly to his liking and he did not select it as a permanent occupation in
life. After a year as a clerk in the office of the Chicago, Burlington, &
Quincy Railroad he spent a similar period as cashier for the Empire fast
freight line.
Upon coming to California in 1874 and
identifying himself with the interests of the state Mr. Ellis secured
employment as draftsman in the office of an architect in San Francisco, but six
months later, he resigned the position in order to enter upon railroad
activities with the Southern Pacific Company. Indicative of his fitness for
such work is the fact that he was retained as cashier for eleven years and
then, in recognition of his able service in the interests of the railroad, was
in 1889 promoted to be a freight agent at Sacramento, a position that he has
since filled with tact, discretion, and intelligence. In the midst of his
diversified duties as agent he has found leisure for active co-operation with
the blue lodge of Masonry and for participation in the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, as well as for association with the genial membership of the Sutter
Club. The Republican party has received his earnest
support in all elections and he has kept well-posted concerning movements
affecting the national prosperity. After he came to the west he was married at
San Francisco in May of 1881 to Miss Mary Bradford, by whom he is the father of
two sons. The elder, Charles C., holds a clerkship in the California National
Bank; and the younger son, Chester Bradford, is a student in the University of
California.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 982-983. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.