Joseph Shaw
The late Joseph Shaw, of Sacramento, who died September 23, 1925, was widely
known. He was one of the founders of Washington Water and Light Company of this
city, also was one of the founders and manager of the Oak Park Water Company.
Mr. Shaw was a native of England, his birth having occurred at London, January
1, 1864, and in the land of his nativity he received his education, and learned
the cabinetmaking trade. His father died when Joseph was a child.
After Mr. Shaw came to the United States, he first settled in Broderick, Yolo
county, California, across the river from Sacramento, and was a cabinetmaker in
shop No. 5, of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He later quit the shops, and in
1893 went to Guatemala, Central America, as an electrician for the United
States consulate. Returning to Sacramento, he was one of the founders of the
Washington Water and Light Company and the Oak Park Water Company. In 1922,
through overwork, his health failed, and he ceased active labors. He was
manager for the United Brotherhood of Railroad Employees for two years, and
politically adhered to progressive politics.
Mr. Shaw was married in 1892, at Sacramento, to Eva E. Evans, a daughter of
Orlando and Isabel (Simpson) Evans. Her father came from Ohio to California in
1848, and was a gold miner. Mrs. Shaw was born in 1864, in Virginia City,
during the gold rush, and her parents both died when she was quite young. After
this loss, she made her home with a step-sister and brother.
Transcribed
by Marla
Fitzsimmons.
Source: History of the
Sacramento Valley California Vol. III J. W. WOOLDRIDGE 1931. Page 242.
© 2004 Marla
Fitzsimmons.
Sacramento County Biographies