Sacramento County
Biographies
GEORGE
BENJAMIN LORENZ
Sacramento lost one of its most
highly esteemed and most widely known citizens when George Benjamin Lorenz
passed away. He had been closely associated with business interests of the city
and was assistant cashier of the Peoples Bank at the time of his death.
Sacramento numbered him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in the
family home at Tenth and I Streets, on March 30, 1880. His parents were George
William and Annie-Laurie (Tade) Lorenz. The former erected a house at Tenth and
I Streets and therein he wedded Miss Tade, who still occupies the old
homestead. The Lorenz family is one of long connection with California, for
George Lorenz, grandfather of George Benjamin Lorenz, came to the state as a
‘49er. He was a native of Alsace-Lorraine and on crossing the Atlantic settled
first in New York, whence he afterward removed to Ohio. There he was employed
for a time but afterward returned to the eastern seaboard and sailed from New
York for San Francisco by way of Cape Horn, attracted to the Pacific coast
through the discovery of gold. With his return to the eastern metropolis he
married Elizabeth Davies, an Englishwoman. After the gold rush he became a
substantial business man of Sacramento, conducting a butcher shop at Tenth and
I Streets.
His son, George W. Lorenz, was
educated in the schools of Sacramento and in the University of California at
Berkeley, where he pursued an academic course. He then returned to the capital
city and in connection with W.E. Gerber conducted a grocery store for a time
but later the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Gerber turning his attention to
the wool business, while Mr. Lorenz retained the store. Eventually, however, he
entered the financial field, becoming identified with the Peoples Bank, in
which he filled the office of cashier.
George B. Lorenz, the only child of
Mr. and Mrs. George W. Lorenz, attended the public schools of Sacramento and
acquired his higher education in the University of California, from which he
was graduated in 1902, on the completion of a course in mining engineering. For
years he followed the profession of a civil engineer and later filled the
office of deputy county engineer. Subsequently he became assistant city engineer
and next served as deputy state engineer. After retiring from that position he
entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with which he did
engineering work for a time, and then again came to Sacramento, where he once
more engaged in engineering work. At length, however, he abandoned professional
activity to enter the Peoples Bank, now a branch of the Bank of Italy, situated
at Eighth and J Streets. He filled the position of assistant cashier to the
time of his death, which occurred October 26, 1919.
In Sacramento on the 17th
of August, 1904, Mr. Lorenz had married Miss Alice Washburn, who was born in
San Francisco, a daughter of Orlando F. and Ray Florence (Williams) Washburn.
Her father gave his attention to mercantile affairs, conducting business as a
grocer. He belonged to a prominent family, of whom five different members were
governors of three different states. Mrs. Lorenz attended school in Sacramento,
her parents establishing their home here when she was but five years of age.
After leaving high school she took up kindergarten work, becoming a successful
teacher, and later went to Berkeley, where she studied social science. To Mr.
and Mrs. Lorenz were born a son and a daughter: Robert Washburn, who married
Eleanor Woodring; and Edith Virginia, at home.
Fraternally, Mr. Lorenz was a Mason
and attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He was also a
member of Sacramento Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, of the
University Club and the Delta Upsilon college fraternity. He took a keen
interest in everything that pertained to the welfare and progress of his native
city and was accounted one of the representative business men and substantial
residents here, enjoying the respect, confidence and esteem of all who knew him.
Mrs. Lorenz has long occupied a
prominent place in social circles of Sacramento. She belongs to the Tuesday
Club, of which she was secretary for six years, and she was formerly a member
of the Parent-Teacher Association and secretary of its branch in the Washington
school. She has also been secretary of the Sacramento Federation, secretary of
the Sacramento County Federation and secretary of the Northern District
Federation of the state. She has ever taken the keenest interest in educational
progress and her labors along this line have been most effective and
beneficial. At the time the change in the city charter occurred it was provided
that the board of education should be composed of five members, three of one
sex and two of the other, and on the first ballot Mrs. Lorenz was elected a
member of the board for a three years’ term, after which she was reappointed
for a five years’ term. It was when she took up her active work on the board of
education that she withdrew from close connection with the Parent-Teacher
Association. At that time the school department was entirely reorganized and
Mrs. Lorenz had charge of the business end of the work, which included the
appointment of a business manager with three clerks, who bought all supplies
and had supervision of the buildings, grounds, sidewalks and the condition of
the books and the physical side of the educational system, not interfering with
the intellectual end of the work. Mrs. Lorenz remained at the head of this
department for eight years, retiring July 1, 1929. During her tenure of office
the new Lincoln school was built and the new high school building was in course
of construction. She proved most competent in the position, making valuable
contribution to the educational progress of the capital city.
Transcribed by Debbie Walke Gramlick.
Source: Wooldridge, J.W. Major History of the Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 pgs. 46-50. The Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
©
2005 Debbie Walke Gramlick.