San Francisco County
Biographies
ALBERT
LINDLEY
ALBERT LINDLEY,
President of the Order of Railway Employees’ Publishing Company, and of the
Order of Railway Employees’ Finance Society, San Francisco, was born at
Clayton, Indiana, June 13, 1864, the son of Milton Lindley and Mary E. (Banta)
Lindley. His father, of Scotch-English origin, was born in North Carolina of
Quaker parentage, but before reaching manhood went to Indiana where he became a
farmer, merchant and banker. In 1866 the family moved to Minneapolis whence, in
1875, they came to Los Angeles. There Milton Lindley was one of the leading
citizens, for several years County Treasurer, later a
member of the County Board of Supervisors and Chairman of its Finance
Committee.
The mother of
Albert Lindley is of Dutch family, her Holland ancestors having settled on
Manhattan Island in 1659. Her grandfather and three of her uncles were in the
Revolutionary War. Others of her forbears fought in the War of 1812, as well as
in the war with Mexico, and her four brothers were officers in the Civil War.
She is still living with her eldest daughter in Los Angeles, at the advanced
age of eighty-two; and her broad charities and graciousness have won for her
the love and veneration of the many of several generations who have been
blessed with her acquaintance.
For several
years Albert Lindley attended the grammar school and high school of
Minneapolis. In 1880 he entered the University of Southern California, in Los
Angeles, where he was one of the first students enrolled, and whence he was
graduated in 1883, with the degree of B.A.
The
first few years after graduation he was connected with his brother, Hervey, in the lumber business in Iowa and Dakota. Returning to Los Angeles in 1887 he
engaged in fruit raising, farming and in a variety of other activities. From
1894 to 1900 inclusive he was keeper of the archives in the Department of
State; but having purchased the Southern Hotel of Bakersfield in the latter
part of the ‘90’s he shifted thither the scene of his operations. While there
he took an active part in political and fraternal matters, as an outlet for his
dynamic energies, as well as for the advancement of his own and his associates’
interests. In 1902 he disposed of is Bakersfield holdings, shortly thereafter
becoming superintendent of the construction of
the Klamath Lake Railroad, and later superintendent of the operations of the
line. His next post was that of Secretary of the State Agricultural Society.
This he held for two years, and in 1905 was appointed by Governor Pardee State Building and Loan Commissioner, but toward the
end of 1910 resigned to devote himself to the Order of Railway Employees, and
the management of his own properties.
On January 1,
1910, Mr. Lindley took charge of the Railway Employees’ Magazine and the financial
affairs of the Order. Since then both have been moving forward toward the large
destiny he has planned for them. He has overcome the handicap imposed by the
fact that the Order lacked the authorization of the railroads to operate over
their lines and to accept paymasters’ deduction orders from employees, until
today this privilege has been extended to the Order by more than thirty
railways, including four transcontinental systems. He purposes to aid in
bringing fifty thousand men into the O.R.E. within the next two years, and
ultimately to establish lodges in every great railway center from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Mr. Lindley has
been prominent in the council’s of the Panama-Pacific Exposition Company ever
since its inception. He was one of the original members of the Committee of Was
and Means and took a leading part in the campaign for the bond issue that made
the Exposition possible. In the latter respect his work was especially
important in Los Angeles County and throughout Southern California, where in a
few weeks he changed the whole sentiment and was perhaps the chief factor in
winning the day for the bonds by a large majority. Was member Reception
Committee during President Taft’s visit to San Francisco.
Beyond the
foregoing activities, his outside interests include investments in industrial
stocks, real estate and farming in various parts of California. His clubs are
the Union League, Commonwealth, Elks and the Lagunitas.
He is a public-spirited, generous citizen, a hard fighter, when fighting is
necessary, a delightful companion, a true friend and an able financier.
Transcribed by Gloria (Wiegner) Lane.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 361,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2007 Gloria
Lane.