HON. SYLVESTER TRYON

HON. SYLVESTER TRYON, well known as the chief mover in the manufacture of woolen goods in Sacramento, is worthy of special attention. The Capitol Woolen Mills were built and the company incorporated in 1868, with a capital of $100,000, Mr. Leonard Goss being the first president, and Mr. Tryon one of the heavy stockholders. A man named Tatterson, supposed to be experienced, was imported from the East to act as superintendent. He inaugurated a period of great extravagance, and consequently the mills did not pay. Finally in 1870 the superintendence of the mill was turned over to R. T. Brown, who held position into 1872, but also without satisfactory results. In that year, at the request of his fellow-stockholders, Mr. Tryon, who was president at the time, also assumed the management and devoted the whole of his attention to the mills. He started wisely by starting slowly and allowing the business to suggest its own extensions, and as a result succeeded in making a paying concern of it. The ground occupied comprises two entire blocks, situated in the northern portion of the city, adjoining the line of the Central Pacific. A fire had consumed the mill in 1875. Immediately thereafter the buildings were reconstructed, with all the improvements that Mr. Tryon's long experience could suggest, and as a consequence the establishment was in tip-top shape and running nicely with a force of employes ranging from fifty to seventy-five men, when the last fire of 1886 caught them without insurance. Though by no means a crippled man, Mr. Tryon felt himself so discouraged that he has not yet rebuilt, but contemplates doing so at an early date. In connection with the mills he always conducted a tailoring and sales department at No. 822 J street. This is still continued, although now of necessity from goods other than his own manufacturer, and enjoys a fair share of the business in that line in the city. It should be stated before leaving this portion of the subject that after the first fire the company was reincorporated with a capital stock of $200,000, and the new factory comprised a complete fore-set mill. The life of Mr. Tryon has been one of great variety and incident, and presents an apt illustration of what may be accomplished by energy, application and the following of right principles. He was born in 1827, in this State of Ohio. Upon the discovery of gold in California he set out for the trip across the plains. The journey, lasting six months, proved a very long and tedious as well as perilous one, although happily made without serious accident. He reached Sacramento Aug. 22, 1850, bringing with him a band of horses and mules for trading purposes. Disposing of his stock, he went to El Dorado County, and during two years was busily and successfully engaged in mining. He returned to the city July 1, 1852 and immediately entered into business on his own account as keeper of the livery stable and dealer in grain and hay. He had taken up a ranch on the Consumnes River, where he cut several hundred tons of hay. As it chanced, in the great fire that swept the city in November, 1852, almost the entire stock was consumed except that of Mr. Tryon, and the result was that he coined the great deal of money out of his happy venture. Tryon's stable was one of the well-known establishments of the early days, being situated on Tenth street, not far from the Plaza, and where the brick portion still remains, being still a prosperous undertaking, although rented out to others. A fire, to be noticed later, destroyed the wooden buildings which were necessary to meet the large business demands of the days when Mr. Tryon conducted it in person. In relating the circumstances of the flood of 1862 Mr. Tryon recounts some thrilling instances of the excitements and troubles of the times that appear in our history of that period. He has always been an active Republican and Unionist. During the days of the Rebellion he was appointed enrolling officer for Sacramento by President Lincoln, and necessarily incurred the hatred of the rebels, who were numerous in California in those days. Not content with bravado, they set fire to his stables, burning the wooden buildings to the ground, with great loss to Mr. Tryon. During all these years he was a most pronounced worker for the good of his country, taken in active interest also in politics and aiding more than a little in keeping California in the Union. When he became president of the Woolen Mills Company he found it necessary to devote himself chiefly to its interests, and has since that time ceased to busy himself so actively with politics. He was one of the old volunteer Fire Department and was one of the organizers of the present efficient department, and is a member of the Exempt Firemen of this city, an account of whose organization will be found elsewhere. It will thus be seen that Mr. Tryon has been one of the active movers in all good causes in this city, of which he has always been a citizen of prominence and importance, taking a part in every undertaking that promise to be of general benefit. He is a large property-holder and a heavy tax-payer in the city, and has been such from the first, and as a public-spirited and valuable member of the community ranks as high as any. Mr. Tryon was married to Miss Mary Merrill, a native of Massachusetts, in 1869. They have two children, named respectively Arthur Lincoln and William.

An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. By Hon. Win. J Davis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 263-264.

Submitted by: Nancy Pratt Melton.