San Francisco County
Biographies
GEORGE F.
LYON
A prominent veteran of the real estate business in San Francisco is George F. Lyon, member of the firm of Lyon & Hoag at 564 Market street, who has fairly earned a most enviable reputation during the many years of his activity in the local field.
George F. Lyon was born in San Francisco, April 28, 1868, and is a son of the late George and Julia M. (Cowling) Lyon. His paternal grandfather came from the vicinity of Alsace, France, to the United States in 1830, first settled near Reading, Pennsylvania, and later lived near Allegheny in the same state. He was a stone mason by trade, and constructed some of the first railway bridges in Pennsylvania. George Lyon, the father of George F., was born near Heidelberg, Germany, in the year 1821, and was brought to America by his parents nine years later. In the early ‘50s, he made the long voyage around the Horn and up the coast to San Francisco, and here he was engaged for several years in gold mining and in the conduct of a small retail business on Clay street. Going back to the state of Pennsylvania by way of the Isthmus of Panama, he was there married in 1858 and then returned to San Francisco. For the greater part of his subsequent career he engaged in his trade, also farmed and raised live stock. His death occurred in 1904, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-three years. His wife, Julia M. (Cowling) Lyon, was born in London, England, and came to the United States with her parents, who settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where she met and married Mr. Lyon. Her death occurred in 1889, when she was fifty-four years old. Four sons and three daughters were born to them, of whom three sons and two daughters survive, namely: Annie E., who is the wife of E. M. Long, of Menlo Park; Mrs. Julia C. Donaldson; John A., of La Honda, California; William G., of Vallejo, California; and George F.
George F. Lyon first attended the public schools of San Francisco, but when only twelve years of age started to earn his own living as a cash and elevator boy for the White House department store, working each day from 7 A.M. To 6 P.M. for the munificent sum of three dollars per week. He remained in this position for four years, and during this time and later he attended night school, took the Lincoln school commercial course, and studied one year in the high school. In the year 1884, Mr. Lyon became associated with the real estate firm of C. W. Beach & Company, and here learned all the fundamentals of the business which was to be his life’s work. For a year he was connected with the Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson Hardware Company and then returned to the real estate field with the firm of McAfee Brothers, predecessors to Baldwin & Howell. Having acquired experience and reputation, Mr. Lyon entered into partnership in 1899 with the late E. L. Hoag, and during the subsequent interval, now exceeding three decades, he has gained outstanding success and fine prestige in his chosen calling. He is recognized as an honest and wise consultant in real estate matters, and he has never resorted to artifice in conducting his sales. He has largely specialized in subdivision properties in San Francisco, Burlingame and other localities, and laid out one of the first restricted districts in the bay region. He and George D. Toy were instrumental in organizing the San Francisco Real Estate Board. He maintains his office at 300 Chancery building, 564 Market street, in San Francisco, while his residence is in Burlingame, California.
Mr. Lyon has been twice married, first in 1892 in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Gladys G. Long, a native of Massachusetts, and daughter of George and Mary A. Long, representatives of an old family of that state, of English descent. Mrs. Lyons died in 1893. They were the parents of one son, Frederick George, who is now associated with his father in San Francisco. In 1903, Mr. Lyon was married secondly to Alice Lucile Smitten. To this union, four children have been born, namely: Barbara, Lucile, Joyce and Gregory. The first named was born in San Francisco, and the last three in Burlingame, California.
Mr. Lyon is a member of the Burlingame Lodge of Masons, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a republican, and was reared in the faith of the Episcopal Church. He follows golf as a relaxation from the cares and responsibilities of his business life, and in social circles, or wherever he has made contact, he has become very popular and has won hosts of friends.
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 389-391.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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