LEWELLYN TOZER

       There may be found in almost all American communities quiet, retiring men who never ask public office or appear prominent in public affairs, yet who nevertheless exert a widely felt influence in the community in which they live and help to construct the proper foundation upon which the social and political world is built.  Such a man is General Lewellyn Tozer, who is now actively identified with the business interests in Sacramento as a resident partner of the firm of William P. Fuller & Company, wholesale and retail dealers in paints, oils and glass.

       A native of the far-away state of Maine, General Tozer was born in Kennebec county in 1843, and his youth was passed upon a farm where he early became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He watched with interest the progress of events that preceded the Civil War and resolved that if the south made an attempt to overthrow the Union he would go to its defense.  Accordingly with patriotic spirit  he enlisted as a private, in August, 1862, and with his battery (the Fourth Maine) was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, sharing in the many hotly contested battles and tedious campaigns of that division.  He remained at the front until June, 1865, when hostilities having ceased he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home.

       He was a young man of determined spirit and ambition, and, with a hope of improving his condition in the west, he made his way to San Francisco, where he resided for three years.  He first secured employment in the firm of Cameron, Whittier & Company, which was a consolidation of the former firm and that of Fuller & Heather.  The year 1869 witnessed his arrival in Sacramento.  The firm with which he was connected established a wholesale and retail house in this city and he remained as one of its employees until 1875, when he was admitted to the partnership in the business, having in the meantime been advanced to higher positions of greater trust and responsibility.  He is now the resident partner and manager in Sacramento, and under his capable control the enterprise is proving one of success and assuming extensive proportions.

       On questions of national importance, Mr. Tozer has ever given his political support to the Republican party and is a strong advocate of its principles.  At local elections, however, where no issue is involved, he votes independently, supporting the man whom he thinks best qualified for office.  In the fall of 1893, at the solicitation of friends, he became a candidate for city trustee, under the new charter, and was elected on the Citizens', Non-partisan, and Reorganized Democratic tickets, receiving more votes than the combined support of his three opponents.  This indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him.  He is widely known as a reliable business man, straightforward in all his dealings and fair in his treatment of patrons and employees.  Over the record of his life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil, and he well deserves honorable mention in the history of Sacramento county.