Sacramento County

Biographies

THOMAS FRANCIS SCOLLAN

Thomas Francis Scollan was for many years a successful plastering contractor of Sacramento whose business has been continued by his widow and his son, William B., under the name of the Thomas F. Scollan Company. There is no other family in California which bears this surname. Thomas F. Scollan had been a resident of Sacramento for about three decades when he passed away December 30, 1912, at the age of fifty-four years. He was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, March 4, 1858, a son of Thomas Francis and Rose (Daugherty) Scollan. His mother died when he was but an infant and afterward he accompanied his father, three sisters and a brother on the voyage to America, the family home being established in New Haven, Connecticut. There he attended parochial schools and as a young lad began work as a brickmason. It was in 1883, at the age of twenty-five years, that he crossed the continent in company with three other young men of his neighborhood and settled at Sacramento, California. He obtained employment here and on the 8^th of June, 1890, embarked in the contracting business on his own account, continuing active therein throughout the remainder of his life. His work was not confined to the city of Sacramento, but extended throughout central California and western Nevada, and he erected many of the early business houses and residences of this section, including substantial structures at Winnemucca, Nevada, and bank buildings at Winters and Oak Park, California. Since his death, his contracting interests have been ably and successfully carried forward by his widow and his son, William B., who formed a co-partnership under the name of the Thomas F. Scollan Company.

On the 2^nd of June, 1886, Mr. Scollan was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ellen Spain, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Rigney) Spain, both of whom were natives of Ireland, born in the counties of Galway and Queens, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Scollan became the parents of ten children, as follows: Thomas P., who married Edna Gilmore and has a son, Thomas J.; William Bernard, who wedded Miss Hattie Jones and has two sons, W.B. Jr., and James Carroll; Hugh Francis, who married Ethel Owens and has a daughter, Ethel; Charles J., who married Ethel McCarthy and has a daughter, Helen; Edward J., who married Miss Ethel Cook; Marian B., who is the wife of Dr. George M. Geraty, a practicing dentist of Sacramento, and is the mother of one child, Gene Thomas; Rose; Elizabeth J., who married W.R. Laupe, October 19, 1930; Alice M., the wife of F.B. Beistman, Jr., of Sacramento; and Joseph Paul.

Mr. Scollan gave his political allegiance to the democratic party and manifested an active and helpful interest in affairs of civic import. He was a devout communicant of the Catholic Church and a member of the Knights of Columbus. His salient characteristics were such as won him an extensive circle of warm friends, and his passing was the occasion of deep and widespread regret.

Transcribed by Debbie Walke Gramlick.

Source: Wooldridge, J.W. Major History of the Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 pgs. 330-331. The Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.

Sacramento County Biographies