San Francisco County
Biographies
GEORGE
WASHINGTON McNEAR
M’ NEAR,(sic) GEORGE WASHINGTON, Capitalist, Commission and Grain
merchant, San Francisco, Cal., was born at Washington,
Maine, on March 27, 1830. His
paternal ancestor, John McNear, came from the north
of Scotland about the year 1725. He settled in the Province
of Maine, where he became prominent in the Indian wars and was
noted for his bravery during the troublesome Colonial times.
George W. McNear was married in 1859 to Amanda Marie Church, daughter
of Reverend Albert Church of Bangor, Maine. There are four sons and two
daughters. The sons are all substantial business men; the oldest son,
George W. McNear, Jr., was many years manager for his
father’s interests at Liverpool, England, and represented the firm on the continent.
Mr. McNear received his education in his native State, and he
early showed a great proficiency in mathematics and the study of navigation,
the most distinguished calling of that period. He came from a hardy race
of seagoing men and his attention naturally turned to that line.
At the age of fifteen
he went to sea, and after making several voyages in foreign lands and along the
Atlantic coast, he landed in New Orleans in February, 1854, at the age of
seventeen. Regardless of his youth he was at once given command of a
schooner plying on the waters of Mississippi
Sound and Lake Pont Chartrain.
In 1856, at the age
of nineteen, he became a part owner and the master of a steamboat plying the
same waters, which he managed successfully until 1860. He then decided to
dispose of his interest in the South and go to California.
He left New Orleans in June, 1860, to visit the home of his father in Maine, preparatory to his western trip, where he remained a
few weeks, and then, in July, he started from New York for California,
via the Isthmus of Panama. After the usual adventures of the trip, he arrived
in San Francisco on August 2, 1860,
and joined his brother in Petaluma. The brothers soon formed the partnership of McNear & Brother, commission and grain merchants.
In March, 1861, the
firm opened a branch of the business in San Francisco, and in 1867 they sent their first shipload of wheat to Europe. He
withdrew from partnership with his brother in 1874 and established the house of
George W. McNear, now well known all over the
world. He commenced shipping grain to Europe on
an extensive scale, and has continued to be the leading shipper of the Pacific
Coast.
Later, Mr. McNear concentrated his shipping facilities at Port Costa,
building warehouses and docks where he could load ten deep water ships at a
time. In 1894 he acquired the flour mills and warehouses of Starr &
Co., located at Wheatport and Vallejo, Cal., the largest establishments of their kind on the Pacific
Coast, adding this great milling business to his other large
interests. He also owned some twenty-five warehouses in the interior of
the State. These, combined with his Port Costa, Wheatport
and Vallejo warehouses aggregate a storage capacity of more than 8,000,000
bushels of grain.
During his busy life Mr.
McNear has found time to turn his attention most
successfully to other important interests. He was President of and largely
instrumental in building the first electric street railroad system in Oakland, Cal., and was Pres. Of the First National Bank of Oakland. His undertakings are managed with cool judgment,
determination and energy, and these traits, combined with constant application
to business, have won him his wonderful and most
substantial success. He is a member of the best clubs of the Coast and has
been one of the staunchest friends of San Francisco, always active in the best public movements.
Transcribed
by 12-04-06 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 182, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
©
2006 Marilyn R. Pankey.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library