FRANK GREGORY

Sacramento County

Biographies

FRANK GREGORY

It is characteristic of the native-born sons of California that they maintain an intelligent association with all movements for the permanent upbuilding of the state, and in this respect Mr. Gregory vies with others who boast a lifelong identification with the commonwealth. By reason of his residence in Sacramento, where he was born February 22, 1867, and where he has remained throughout his entire life, his interest in the capital city is particularly keen. Perhaps few men in the town are better posted than he concerning measures for the advancement of the city and county, projects for the making of necessary improvements and plans for the building of structures necessary to every community in the transaction of its public business and the care of its dependent or criminal element. The family of which he is a member has been very prominent in Sacramento, his brother, Hon. Eugene J. Gregory, having filled the office of mayor, while their father, Julius, a pioneer of the city, held an influential position in its business circles for many years.

Attendance at night schools as well as the regular classes of the public schools gave Frank Gregory fair educational advantages in the years of youth. After leaving school he assisted his father in the details of the business, but since 1907 he has been associated with the office of county clerk as deputy. After the appointment of E. P. Pfund, the present incumbent of the office of county clerk, Mr. Gregory was retained as deputy, a fact which testifies eloquently as to the recognition given to his faithful services. Besides serving as deputy since 1907, he also has been assigned to the duty of acting clerk of the board of supervisors of Sacramento county for the same period. The years from 1908 to 1911 were most important in the history of Sacramento county, for during that period bonds were issued to the amount of almost $1,500,000, and contracts for construction were let on bids, which embraced the construction of the new county jail, the new courthouse, new roads and new permanent bridges.

The immense amount of construction work began and the large amount of bonds issued indicate the overwhelming volume of business transacted in the office of the county board of supervisors. It is, indeed, stated authoritatively that the amount of work accomplished during the service of Mr. Gregory as deputy has more than doubled that of any previous period in the county history or any previous record made by other deputies. Such a statement in itself proves the energy with which he has attended to his duties and the speed with which he has prosecuted his work, while his accuracy is attested by the fact that few mistakes have ever been found in any book of the office, notwithstanding the large volume of the records made. The work, indeed, is practically faultless, and indicates that the office has in its deputy a man of dispatch and accuracy, a worker of rare qualifications as well as practical common sense. In addition to his other enterprises, he served for five years as secretary of the State Anti-debris Association, a society organized for the purpose of keeping clean and open the rivers where hydraulic mining was in constant operation. The Chamber of Commerce numbers him among its members and his identification therewith has been used to promote the commercial prosperity of Sacramento. In fraternal matters he holds membership with the Eagles and blue lodge of Masons, and he is also a member of the Sacramento Athletic club.

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.

Source: Willis, William L., History of Sacramento County, California, Pages 705-706. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.