San Francisco County
Biographies
JOSEPH GEORGE McCALL
JOSEPH GEORGE McCALL, the present
Assemblyman for the Fifty-third District, was born near Nashville,
Tennessee, December 28, 1852, son of Roswell
and Maria (McDonald) McCall, both of whom are deceased. Joseph’s grandmother,
Catharine McDonald, lived to be over 100 years of age. Mr. Roswell McCall was
born and brought up on the State of New York, became a
hotel-keeper in Tennessee and
afterward a planter. Three brothers William, Robert and John and two aunts Nora and Olive McCall lived to be over eighty. William
died of yellow fever; John was killed in the war, and Robert, a sea captain who
was born about 1820, was last heard from about 1880. Joseph’s mother died of
typhoid fever, about 1846, leaving four children. His father was accidentally killed.
Mr.
McCall of this sketch was brought to California
during his seventh year. In August of the next year (1850) he entered the
California Stage Companys office in Marysville, and
remained with them in various positions, being for a time roadmaster,
until 1862, when he came to San Francisco,
for medical treatment. After his recovery he engaged himself to the Wells-Fargo
Express Company; next he was hack-driver for two or three years on his own
account; then for two years 1873-5, he was passenger agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. In
June 1873, he became the general agent for the Erie Railway Company, in San
Francisco, which position he now holds.
He
was nominated for the Assembly September 13, 1890, and elected November 4, following,
and in the session of the Legislature following he was appointed Chairman of
the Committee of Rules and Regulations. He had been a Republican ever since the
war. He belonged to the State Militia, as a member of the Ellsworth Zouaves, of which he was one of the organizers, spending
his money freely for the purpose. He is a member of the order of Knights of
Honor.
For
many years Mr. McCall has been before the public, in his capacity of general
agent of the Erie Railway Company, and likewise as the originator and conductor
of the annual teachers excursions, the Baptist excursions, and several
specially arranged excursions for overland parties. In this trying position he
has made a host of friends among those who have traveled with him. Said a
prominent merchant of Oakland: "There is more than one hard working man in
Oakland who, when he wanted to send for his family back in the old country, has
found Mr. McCall willing not only to help him but also in many cases to trust
the man to repay him the passage money. Mr. McCall is a genial, whole-souled fellow who makes friends of strangers, and who, in
the cause of right and justice, is ever found firm and determined.
Mr.
McCall was married in San Francisco,
in May 1871, to Katie Madden, and they had five children, as follows: Lizzie, Gertie, Olive, Louis and Esther. Mrs. McCall’s mother, a
native of New York, is still
living, now aged over seventy years. Mr. Madden died in middle life.
Transcribed
by Elaine Sturdevant.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, Pages 558-559,
Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2006 Elaine Sturdevant.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library