Santa
Clara County
Biographies
FRANK H. MOON
F. H. MOON. One of the well known lumber
manufacturers and dealers of the northwest is F. H. Moon, a resident of San
Jose. A man of quick perceptions and
keen business activity, he is thoroughly acquainted with every phase of the
lumber industry, and as an organizer and executive manager is especially
successful. A son of Delos Moon, he was
born May 7, 1861, in Eau Claire, Wis. He
comes of English ancestry, his great-great-grandfather Moon having emigrated
from England to the United States in colonial times, settling in New York
state. Mr. Moon’s paternal grandfather
was born and reared in New York state, where he lived
until 1844, when he removed to Aurora, Ill.
He was a farmer by occupation, and a man of thrift and intelligence. Moving with his parents to
Illinois when a boy, Delos Moon grew to manhood on the home farm. Going to Eau Claire, Wis., in 1856, he was at
first employed as a clerk in the Hall Brothers’ Bank. Realizing while thus employed that the lumber
industry would eventually attain a supremacy over all others in that wooded
region, Mr. Moon invested his savings in Wisconsin timber lands, becoming owner
of several large tracts. Resigning his
position in the bank he, in company with ex-State Senator Gilbert E. Porter,
built sawmills, and embarked in the manufacture of lumber, the firm name being
Porter & Moon. In 1876 this
enterprising firm incorporated into the North West Lumber Company, Mr. Porter
being made president and Mr. Moon vice-president. On the death of Mr. Porter, in 1881, Mr.
Delos Moon, the vice-president, was made president, and served in that capacity
the remainder of his life. His death, in
1898, at the age of sixty-two years, was caused by heart trouble. He was a very prominent lumberman, establishing mills in different places in Wisconsin,
including Stanley and Gile, and was a dominant factor
in the building up of the North West Lumber Company, which in 1893 and 1894
produced one hundred and nine million feet of lumber. He was a devoted adherent of the Republican party, but persistently declined all official honors. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity,
and belonged to the Episcopal Church. He
married Sallie Frances Gilman, who was born in Oberlin, Ohio, a daughter of
Samuel Gilman. She survived her husband,
and now resides at the old home, in Wisconsin.
Of the eight children that blessed their union, seven are living:
Lawrence, a speculator, resides in Spokane, Wash.; F. H., the subject of this
sketch; Mrs. Angeline Dudley, of Buffalo, N.Y.; Sumner, of Eau Claire, Wis., is
vice-president and manager of the North West Lumber Company; Chester D., also
of Eau Claire, is associated with the North West Lumber Company as manager of
the Eau Claire Mill; Mrs. Pauline Haueisen, of
Indianapolis, Ind.; and D. R., of Eau Claire, manager of the North West Lumber
Company’s box factory.
After his graduation from the Eau
Claire High School, at the age of seventeen years, F. H. Moon began learning
the details of the lumber business, entering the sawmill as a laborer, and
gradually working his way through every department in any way connected with
the manufacture of lumber. At the end of
four years he entered the University of Wisconsin, where he continued his studies
for a year. Going then into the woods he had charge of different camps, and was
employed in surveying and laying out logging roads and general woods work until
1887. Subsequently locating in Calgary,
Northwest Territory, Mr. Moon took an active part in organizing and operating
the Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber Company, which bought extensive tracts of
timber land, erected mills, put in water power, installed an electric light
plant, and carried on a large business in manufacturing lumber. Resigning his position with the company in
October, 1890, Mr. Moon entered the employ of the British Columbia Mills Timber
& Trading Company at Vancouver, British Columbia, in order that he might
become familiar with the Pacific coast end of the business. Taking charge of the Vancouver office he
remained with the company until March, 1898.
He became the log buyer of the firm, and in course of time established a
car trade, which the company had never before possessed, thus piling and
shipping the lumber back to Manitoba and other points. Returning then to Eau Claire, Wis., Mr. Moon,
as one of his father’s heirs, was associated with the management of the North
West Lumber Company for nearly two years.
In February, 1900, he came to San Jose, Cal., and two years later bought
the Evans estate, on Alum Rock avenue, and has since
made this city his home. He is still one
of the directors of the North West Lumber Company, and in looking after its
interests makes two or three trips to Wisconsin each year. He is likewise a director of the Eau Claire
& Bow River Lumber Company, and is interested in various tracts of timber
lands in Washington.
In Minneapolis, Minn., February 23,
1888, Mr. Moon married Estella Orr, who was born in Lansing, Iowa, where her
father, William Orr, was a prominent member of the Republican party, and for several years had charge of the land
office. Mr. and Mrs. Moon have two
children: Ellis and Leslie. In his
political affiliations Mr. Moon is a stanch supporter of the principles of the
Republican party.
While living in Eau Claire, Wis., he united with the Knights of Pythias,
with the Royal Arcanum, and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Moon are
members of the Episcopal Church.
Transcribed by Doralisa
Palomares.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1118-1119. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Doralisa Palomares.