San Francisco County
Biographies
CYRUS B.
JOHNSON
The procedure by which education, business success, and social position may be attained solely through one’s own efforts is well indicated in the career of Cyrus B. Johnson, who is engaged in the investment securities business in San Francisco, California, with offices in suite 300, Standard Oil building, at 225 Bush street. He was born August 9, 1896, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a son of the late Charles Page and Sarah J. (Reakirt) Johnson.
Cyrus B. Johnson is descended from one of the oldest families of the state of Maine, members of which came to American shores from England many years before the Revolutionary war. Charles Page Johnson, his father, was born in Maine, and was there reared and educated. He was one of a family of thirteen children, all of whom lived to a very mature age; when the first death occurred among the thirteen, the youngest of the number was then over sixty years old. In 1857, Charles P. Johnson came to California, to the Feather river district near Oroville, where he worked at mining for a time. Later, he moved to Alvarado, California, and there successfully engaged in merchandising for fifteen years. Then, in 1872, he returned east to Philadelphia, and while residing in that city he was in charge of the men’s furnishings department of the Wanamaker store. In 1897, the urge to come to the west again brought him across the country to northwestern Washington, in the Mount Baker district, where he was in the shingle manufacturing business for several years. He eventually sold out, and moved to Seattle, where he lived until 1923, when he took up his abode in Alameda county, California, there to live in retirement until his death, which occurred in April, 1925, when he was eighty-nine years old. He was a stanch republican and voted twice for Abraham Lincoln. Sarah J. (Reakirt) Johnson, the mother of Cyrus B., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a member of an old family of Dutch descent. Her father was a colonel in the Civil war, and during his life was engaged in the drug business in Philadelphia, having been a registered pharmacist. Mrs. Johnson died in May, 1925, at the age of seventy-one. By her marriage to Charles Page Johnson, she was the mother of three children, namely: Harvey R., who lives in Tacoma, Washington; Marian, who is the wife of Harry Kemp and a resident of Decatur, Georgia; and the subject of this biography.
Cyrus B. Johnson received his education in the grade and high schools of Seattle, and in the University of Washington. His schooling was interrupted at intervals by the necessity of work, for he gained his education by hard work and real courage. When a boy of eleven years, he began to earn his own livelihood on coast vessels plying the Puget Sound and San Juan islands route. He loved the sea from childhood, and had always dreamed of life as a sailor. For a number of years he served on vessels sailing from local ports to the seven seas of the world and the principal ports of call. Europe, China, Japan, and South America became familiar to him. He held various positions during his seafaring days, eventually having become a quartermaster, and later second mate, then first mate. He served in the latter capacity for about six years. In 1920, in the autumn, he debarked in San Francisco from his last cruise, with the determination to seek a land career thereafter. He first found employment as a clerk with the General Cigar Company of San Francisco, which concern he remained one year. The thought of continuing his education had been uppermost in his mind for a long time, consequently he entered the University of Washington, and there studied until the spring of 1922, in April of which year he returned to San Francisco, where he became associated with the investment securities firm of Cyrus Pierce & Company as a salesman. For six months he gained valuable experience and studied the business thoroughly, and then the firm assigned to him the entire Sacramento valley, in which territory he worked successfully for seven years. He then resigned and joined the brokerage firm of Anderson & Fox in San Francisco, with which he continued until August, 1929. At this time, he felt that his wide experience in the business justified a department upon his own account, so he established himself under the name of Cyrus B. Johnson, Investment Securities. In August, 1930, he purchased seats in the San Francisco Exchange and the San Francisco Curb Exchange from Anderson & Fox. The development of his business has been steady and he now enjoys one of the choicest clienteles among the brokerage firms of San Francisco. He has won the confidence of his patrons by his honorable methods and keen judgment, and has become a leading figure in the financial affairs of the city.
Mr. Johnson was married June 10, 1924, at Chico, California, to Miss Mary Jane Compton, a daughter of Henry C. and Henria C. (Packer) Compton. The Comptons were pioneers in the state of California, for the parents of Henry C. Compton crossed the plains in 1850 in an ox-cart. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson reside at 1100 Sacramento street in San Francisco.
During the time of the United States’ participation in the World war, Mr. Johnson served in the military forces of his country with much credit to himself. In 1917, he enlisted in the specialist school at Fortress Monroe, and after his graduation therefrom he served one year as a first-class electrician sergeant. He was assigned to the officers’ training camp at Fortress Monroe, and after receiving a commission as second lieutenant he was assigned to the Thrity-ninth Field Artillery. However, while he was en route overseas, the armistice was signed. He was honorably discharged in December, 1918, with the rank of second lieutenant. He then returned to San Francisco, and for two years, 1918 to 1920, he renewed his seafaring life.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Chico, California. In politics he is a republican. During his collegiate days, he became a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, holding membership in Madison Lodge, No. 23, F. & A. M., of Grass Valley; Chico Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M.; Chico Commandery, No. 12, K. T.; and Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine of San Francisco. He belongs to the San Francisco Commercial Club; the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; the California Golf Club; the St. Francis Yacht Club; the Olympic Club, and the University Club. Mr. Johnson is also a director in the Bank of Willows at Willows, California. One of his principal interests aside from the investment securities business is aviation. He holds a pilot’s license and owns an airplane. Another diversion in which he is particularly interested is duck hunting. He may well be placed among the group of San Francisco men who are advancing the interests and the reputation of the city before the eyes of the world. He has been enthusiastic in assisting various movements for the local welfare, and he has shown a true understanding of the responsibilities of a public-spirited citizen.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 273-276.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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