Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM E. GRANT
The proprietor of Hotel Clayton claims
Sacramento as his birthplace as well as the chosen home of his maturity.
While at times the interests of business have required his presence temporarily
in other parts of the west, always he has considered Sacramento as his home and
headquarters. In entering the hotel business he selected the capital city
as the seat of his operations and chose the Hotel Clayton, a new and modern
building with first-class accommodations, as his special center of
activity. The management of the place proves the energy and sagacity of
the proprietor, whose courtesy and Chesterfieldian
polish supplement a keen business ability and indicate his adaptability for
that difficult undertaking, the successful operation of a modern
caravansary. The Clayton is a commodious building with one hundred rooms,
equipped with modern conveniences and supplied with every requisite for the
comfort of the guests, who after having been entertained here once are ready to
return should business or pleasure bring them back to Sacramento.
In this city Mr. Grant was born September
9, 1866, being a son of George Robert and Mary Helen (Van Arden) Grant, natives
of New York state. As early as 1862 the father
became a pioneer of the Sacramento valley, and from that time until his death,
which occurred June 19, 1889, he followed general farming, meanwhile
accumulating large tracts of unimproved land in Placer and Sutter
counties. Since his death the wife and mother has resided in Sacramento
and now makes her home with her son, William E. Of her other children all
are living except George Robert Jr., who died in 1894. The remaining
members of the family are as follows: Mrs. Mildred Pierce, a widow;
Sarah O., the widow of the late Robert Frazee, who for twenty years or more was
connected with the Sacramento police force; Julia A., the widow of Leroy
L. Crocker, a fruit-grower in Placer county, who at his demise left a large
estate in that county as well as holdings elsewhere; Henrietta, wife of
c. W. Earle, of Los Angeles; William E., and Ada,
a resident of Berkeley, this state.
After he had completed the usual course of
educational training Mr. Grant became a traveling salesman and in that capacity
gained a broad knowledge of the west. For several years he was connected
with the Wood-Curtis Company as manager of their Reno branch, and afterward he
held the position of vice-president of the McMillan-Gordon Company for four
years, resigning in order to devote his attention to the hotel business.
Ever since attaining his majority he has voted the Republican ticket at all
general elections. Fraternally he has been a local leader in Masonry and
has risen to Islam Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco. With his wife, who
was Miss Matilda Andrews, and his daughter, Miss Viola M., a popular student in
the high school, he has a host of warm personal friends among the people of
Sacramento. In his devotion to Masonry he shows the zeal and intelligence
which have brought into national prominence his uncle, Hon. H. B. Grant, of
Louisville, Ky., widely known as the author of the Masonic Code, Templars' Tactics and other manuals used in the
order; also known as the head of the command that won the competitive
drills at both of the San Francisco conclaves, the remarkable tactical skill
displayed by the command having been achieved through the earnest efforts of
their commander.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 771-773. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.