SAMUEL WILLIAM KAY

Sacramento County

Biographies

SAMUEL WILLIAM KAY

SAMUEL WILLIAM KAY.--For the past twenty years Samuel William Kay has been in the service of the city of Sacramento and for the past two years has held the important position of chief engineer of the city water works. He is known as a man of superior scientific attainments in his chosen line of work and one whose skill and ability have brought him to a commanding place in engineering circles. He was born in Chicago, Ill., January 1, 1864, a son of Samuel H. and Susan (Howarth) Kay. When our subject was twelve years old, his parents removed to Sacramento, Cal., in 1876, where Samuel H. Kay was engaged as a merchant tailor. Both parents are now deceased. The education of Samuel William Kay was obtained in the grammar and high schools of Sacramento; then he entered the Southern Pacific Railroad shops, where he learned the machinist’s trade, which he followed for twenty years with this company. In 1903 he resigned to enter the employ of the city of Sacramento as an engineer, and later advanced to the position of chief engineer of the city water-works, having general supervision of all the pumping plants. The main plant is located at Front and I Streets, pumping direct into the city mains with a capacity of 50,000,000 gallons a day, which furnishes all the water for domestic use in the city. Then there are two sewage pumping stations that pump the rain-water and sewage in the city to the outlet. The city is now building a large filtration plant which will be completed for use by January 1924. The new plant will have a larger capacity and will supply pure filtered water for a city of 150,000 people.

Mr. Kay’s marriage united him with Miss Mary A. Berdolt, a native of Sacramento, and they have two children, Edna M., and Earl Robert, who has just received his appointment to West Point. Mr. Kay served in the National Guard as a 1st lieutenant, then served in Battery C, California Heavy Artillery, in the Spanish-American War as a 1st lieutenant, after which he was commissioned a captain in Troop B, Cavalry, of the National Guard, and later was promoted to the rank of major. In the World War he was commissioned captain of Company A, 25th Battalion, U. S. G., U. S. A., and later commissioned major of the 44th Battalion, U. S. G., U. S. A., in command of the Southern California Border District until after the armistice. He is now major of the United States Reserve Corps and a member of the American Legion, and Spanish-American War Veterans, being past department commander. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and an Elk. In politics, Mr. Kay prefers to vote for the man best suited for office, rather than be confined to any particular party lines.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 909. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.