JOSEPH BELLEAU CORYELL

San Francisco County

Biographies

JOSEPH BELLEAU CORYELL

CORYELL, JOSEPH BELLEAU, Capitalist, San Francisco, Cal., was born in that city June 4, 1871. He is the son of Dr. John R. Coryell, a noted physician, and Zoe Christine (Belleau) Coryell, and on both his maternal and paternal sides his descent is from forebears who distinguished themselves in the Old South. The Coryells were among those old families which formed the aristocracy and whose members have been celebrated in song and story for their courtliness and gentle breeding. His ancestry dates back to the earliest days of the American colonies, and his people were among the intimate members of General George Washington’s circle of friends. George Coryell, his great uncle was one of the pallbearers who carried the body of the first President to the grave. Another branch of Mr. Coryell’s family was the Frelinghuysens, of New Jersey, one of whom, Hon. F. T. Frelinghuysen, was Secretary of State in the cabinet of President Arthur, from 1881 to 1885.

Mr. Coryell was married in San Francisco, April 18, 1900, to Miss Mabel Lloyd Jessup. They have three children, Royal, Gordon and Sibyl Coryell.

He attended St. Ignatius College, in San Francisco, from 1881 to 1884, inclusive, and upon completion of his studies there took a course in the classics and mathematics at Santa Clara College, from which he was graduated in 1887. While this preparation was not especially well adapted to the business career Mr. Coryell had decided upon for himself, it evidently nourished the germ of the large ideas which he subsequently developed and aided him in the attainment of the success that has come to him in business life.

Less than a year after his graduation from Santa Clara, Mr. Coryell opened a small office in San Francisco for the conduct of a real estate business, at that time (1888) a promising field of endeavor. By dint of much vigilance and activity on his part this business grew apace and ultimately led him, by an evolution that seemed logical at the time, into mining and other forms of investment. But he devoted himself for the most part, to the acquisition of well-situated land, and today is said to own more spur-track property than any other landholder in the entire city of San Francisco.

The promise that Mr. Coryell saw lurking in those districts at that early day has been largely realized by the extension of the Sixteenth Street and Santa Fe lines. In the twenty-odd years that have passed since he made those investments, Mr. Coryell’s activities have expanded into a variety of fields, including many more mines, stocks, bonds, additional real estate and other lucrative holdings.

More recently Mr. Coryell acquired a large tract of land on Islais Creek, a channel adjoining the new harbor area of San Francisco. This latter is now (1913) in process of condemnation by the State of California under authority of what is known as the Indian Basin Act and will be the principal part of the Bay City’s gigantic harbor improvement plans. Mr. Coryell’s holdings in this district are the largest of any individual landowner and it is his plan to develop them as fast as the public improvements are made.

Mr. Coryell has many other interests aside from those mentioned and at one time was in close alliance with the enterprises of the late E. H. Harriman and still is interested in Harriman affairs. He was at one time offered the Presidency of a railroad company, but declined it, preferring to devote himself to his private investments.

Mr. Coryell is especially interested in the development of openings for capital, both domestic and foreign, and in this way has acquired possessions in various lines outside of the State of California. Necessarily, Mr. Coryell has been instrumental, in a large measure, in the development of the State’s resources, and has figured in numerous deals which have provided new industries for it.

All of this applied energy in the upbuilding of the country and the exploitation of its wonderful opportunities for investors has, of course, tended to reconcile Mr. Coryell to his early resistance of a temptation, inherited from his father, to verse himself in the laws of medicine and take up the work in which his father was a distinguished figure.

He has been a loyal son of San Francisco and while not active in political or public affairs generally has done his share toward the advancement of the city’s interests. He was an active and powerful force in the upbuilding of the city for many years prior to the disaster which ruined San Francisco in April, 1906, and was among the leaders when it came to rebuilding and rejuvenating the city in the trying days which followed. In this connection he has been an enthusiastic worker in behalf of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, which will celebrate in 1915 the opening of the Panama Canal and also serve to demonstrate to the world at large the greatness of the city, which, through the efforts of her citizens, has, in the space of a few short years, risen from the ashes to a position among the great municipalities of the country.

Mr. Coryell has a beautiful home in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California, and there finds a great deal of enjoyment in orchid culture; his orchid beds, which are among the most extensive owned by any individual in the United States, embrace fourteen hothouses. In one of these hothouses alone Mr. Coryell has one hundred and twenty-five varieties and his blooms have won fame for their grower and San Mateo County.

From his life he spares a little time to his clubs, among which are the Pacific Union, the Burlingame, the Menlo Country Club, McCloud Country Club, and the Country Club of Marin County. He is also a life member of the California Society of Pioneers.

Transcribed by Betty Vickroy.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 433, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.

California Biography Project

San Francisco County

California Statewide

Golden Nugget Library