Sacramento County
Biographies
DANIEL D. SULLIVAN
A complete enumeration of the citizens
identified with the material advancement of Sacramento associated with the
progress of the Republican party in the community and helpful in the interests
of labor throughout the state, could not fail to include and give prominence to
the name of Daniel D. Sullivan, who for many years has been connected with the
state printing office. In many respects a list of his activities is also
a list of measures for the growth of Sacramento. His enterprises have
been varied, but always for the betterment of local conditions. His
activities have been large, but never for any movement not calculated to
develop the permanent welfare of the region. While aiding civic and
district projects, he has not lost sight of individual needs, but has been
active in his aid to charitable organizations and in his personal help to the
poor. As chairman of the police and fire commission, and as a member of
the committee on safety and health, he has conserved the interests of the
people, and his citizenship has been further made valuable through his service
as a member of the committee that outlined the park system at Haggin grant, a subdivision adjoining Sacramento on the
north.
Born in New York City in 1859, Daniel D.
Sullivan is a member of a family that included ten children, whose parents,
Jeremiah J. and Annie (Boucher) Sullivan, were natives respectively of New York
and New Jersey. For years the father followed the trade of a baker in New
York City, but during the Civil war he left his business and his home in
order to aid the Union. For three years he served with fidelity and took
part in all the engagements of his regiment during that period, but finally a
severe wound incapacitated him for further service, and he then received an
honorable discharge. Some time after his discharge he determined to leave
the east for the newer fields of the far distant west. About that time
the railroad was being completed and public interest was aroused in the development
of the coast regions.
The family established a home at
Sacramento during 1868 and the father found employment as a baker, but after
five years he removed to San Francisco, where he was made foreman of a cracker
factory. That position he continued to fill until 1882. Both he and
his wife died in San Francisco during the year 1901. Instead of joining
the family in the coast city, Daniel D. Sullivan remained in Sacramento, and in
1882 he entered the state printing office, where he learned the trade of a
pressman. From that time to the present he has been in the same office,
and since 1895 he has held the position of foreman of the press department,
where he has twenty men under him and where he is responsible for much work of
great importance. His eldest son, Elmo D., who married Celia Morton, is
also a skilled printer, and is now employed by the Star Publishing Company of
Sacramento. The other children, Athol F., Merced, Loraine, Gertrude E.,
and Frank are still living at home.
At the time of the organization of the
State Federation of labor Mr. Sullivan actively assisted in promoting the same
and from the outset he was one of the officers. For three terms he was
honored with the presidency, being the only man to whom has been given the distinction
of filling the important office for three terms. At this writing he is
president of the Sacramento Federation of Trades Council. As one of the
founders of Labor Temple, he took a prominent part in a movement of enduring
importance to the cause of labor in the capital city. Elected the first
treasurer of the Temple, he still fills the office, and in addition he has been
a member of its board of directors ever since the start. For three terms
he was honored with the presidency of the Sacramento Press Union, and in 1907
he served as a delegate to the National Convention of Pressmen at Brighton
Beach. For years he has been a member of the Sacramento Chamber of
Commerce, and allusion previously has been made to his work as a member of its
committees. As a member of the state central committee since 1898 he has
exerted his influence for the upbuilding of the
Republican party, as he has also when serving as a
delegate to every state convention of the party held since 1899. In
addition, he was honored by being chosen delegate from the fourth district to
the national Republican convention at Chicago in 1904 that nominated Theodore
Roosevelt for the presidency. As a progressive worker in the party, he
has been in sympathy with the platform and principles of that renowned party
leader. The Eagles and Elks number him among their members, being a life
member of the Elks, but his interest in fraternities is less engrossing than that in public affairs and in labor problems.
Accordingly, we find that it is in these two departments of citizenship that he
finds his most engrossing activities and has reached his greatest influence.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 753-755. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.