San Francisco
County
Biographies
CAPTAIN JOHN BARNESON
BARNESON, CAPTAIN JOHN, Capitalist, San Francisco
and Los Angeles, California, is a native of Scotland,
born on January 1, 1862. He is the son
of James Barneson and Elizabeth Rose (Bremner) Barneson. He married Harriet E. Harris at Sydney,
Australia, January 8, 1886, and to them there have been born four children,
John Leslie Barneson, Muriel E. Barneson,
Lionel T. Barneson and Harold J. Barneson.
Captain Barneson,
who has been one of the most important figures in commerce and development on
the Pacific Coast for some years past, spent a considerable portion of his
boyhood in New South Wales. He received
his education in the public schools there, this being limited, however, to
attendance between the years 1872 and 1876.
Descended from an old Scotch family in whom love of the sea was a strong
characteristic, Captain Barneson, in 1876, gave up
his books and accepted employment with an English marine corporation operating
vessels in the Australian, London and China trades. He began his career as an apprentice seaman
on a "tea clipper," and although he was only a boy of fourteen years,
he endured all the trials of a sailor's life with the fortitude of a veteran.
In 1879, at the end of three years of
service before the mast, Captain Barneson, who had
learned the science of navigation in its various branches, was promoted to the
rank of Third Officer of his ship. He
served in this capacity for about a year and in 1880 was moved up to the
position of Second Officer. From this he
went rapidly to the post of First Officer, and in this capacity, on board the
English bark "Wollahra," he made his first
trip to San Francisco in 1882. Prior to
this time he had sailed between English, Chinese and Australian ports and was
familiar with the various cities of those countries, but his work had never taken
him to America, to which country he had always been strongly attracted.
Captain Barneson
served as First Officer of the bark "Wollahra"
for approximately three years, although, in 1883, upon attaining his majority,
he passed the necessary examinations at London and received his Captain's
papers. In 1885 he was placed in command
of the English clipper ship "George Thompson," running in the Pacific
trade. He remained in charge of this
vessel for about five years, and in December, 1890, resigned his commission and
retired from the sea after nearly fifteen years of continuous service.
Following his abandonment of life as a
sailor, Captain Barneson settled on Puget Sound and
engaged in the shipping commission and stevedore business. His previous practical experience in the
service and his extensive acquaintance with ship owners and sailors placed him
among the leading men of the business, and from the outset he met with that
success so marked throughout his career.
For eight years Captain Barneson devoted himself exclusively to this business, but
in June, 1898, following the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he left
Puget Sound in command of the S.S. "Arizona" and entered the service
of the United States Government as Commander of that vessel, which had been
transformed into a transport. The
Federal Government at this time was engaged in the transportation of soldiers
to the Philippine Islands to take possession of Manila and Captain Barneson, sailing from San Francisco in charge of the "Arizona,"
took troops to the scene of war. He also
carried troops to Honolulu, Hawaii.
After a period engaged in the
transportation of soldiers, Captain Barneson retired
from the Government service and returned to the Puget Sound country. He did not remain there long, however, moving
his headquarters to San Francisco, California, in 1899, and there continuing in
the shipping business for some time.
Upon the formation by the United States
Government of the permanent Army Transport Service, some months after he
located at San Francisco, Captain Barneson, whose
previous work as captain of the Troopship “Arizona” had been highly approved by
the Government officials, was appointed to the position of Marine
Superintendent. In this capacity he had
complete supervision over all vessels engaged in the transportation of troops
from this country to the Insular possessions of the
United States in the Pacific and was one of the most important officials of the
service. His duties in this position
covered practically everything connected with the movement of troops except the
actual command of the soldiers. He had
to inspect every ship, to see that it was in first-class condition from the
standpoints of seaworthiness and sanitation, provide supplies and have them put
on board, and generally oversee everything connected
with the sailing of the vessels. In
1900, however, Captain Barneson resigned from this
post and re-entered the shipping business, again at San Francisco.
This virtually wound up the career of
Captain Barneson so far as it related to the sea, for
since that time he has been engaged in various of the
most important commercial and development projects on the Pacific Coast--big
things which have placed him among the most powerful business men of the West.
About the time that Captain Barneson gave up his position in the United States
transport service, the oil business of California was taking on important
proportions, and he turned his attention to this line of operation, with the
result that he has become one of the conspicuous, yet always substantial,
figures in the petroleum industry of California. He is a producer in a big way,
and, more important still to the industry, he is furnishing outlets for the
product.
Transcribed by Suzanne Wood.
Source:
Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 503, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2007 Suzanne Wood.