San Francisco County
Biographies
SEAMON W.
MOLKENBUHR
San Francisco has been the city of opportunity to Seamon W. Molkenbuhr, who came here an entire stranger at an early period in his career, and has pressed steadily onward and upward, attaining success and prominence in the legal profession. He was born in Virginia City, Nevada, May 28, 1874, a son of Martin Molkenbuhr, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, in the year 1842, the latter coming to America in 1870. Upon arriving in this country Martin Molkenbuhr at once traveled westward to the state of Nevada to seek his fortune on the old Comstock Lode at Virginia City, Nevada, and remained in that state until his death in 1881, at the comparatively early age of thirty-nine years. His wife, Alice (Manning) Molkenbuhr, was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1846, and at the age of sixteen came to the United States to make her home with an older brother, Thomas Manning, a pioneer of San Francisco. For seventeen years Mrs. Molkenbuhr survived her husband, passing away in August, 1898, at the age of fifty-two years. She had become the mother of two sons: Seamon W.; and Charles, now associated with the Standard Oil Company of California.
Reared in his native state, Seamon W. Molkenbuhr mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Gold Hill, Nevada, and next attended the University of Nevada. Desirous of becoming an attorney, he obtained a position in 1892 in the law office of John T. Doyle and J. Downey Harvey, receiving a salary of forty dollars per month; for five years he followed commercial pursuits in the employ of Holbrook, Merrill & Stetson, Inc., of San Francisco. Resuming the study of law, he was employed in the offices of W. M. Cannon and T. C. Judkins, San Francisco attorneys, and in March, 1903, was admitted to the California bar. He at once opened an office in the Mills building, where he has since been located, and now has as a partner his eldest son, Edward Molkenbuhr, a graduate of St. Ignatius College.
On the 6th of July, 1898, Seamon W. Molkenbuhr was married in San Francisco to Miss Mary Egan, a daughter of Edward and Minnie (Lyons) Egan, the former now deceased. Mrs. Egan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and in childhood came with her parents to San Francisco, arriving here before the Civil war. Long a resident of this city, she is highly esteemed, and has seven great-grandchildren, in whom she takes justifiable pride. Mr. and Mrs. Molkenbuhr have three sons. Edward, born in San Francisco in 1899, enlisted for service in the World war and was sent to the Central Officers Training School at Waco, Texas, where he remained until the armistice was signed. He married Ethel Buick and their children are Edward, Jr., and Carol. The second son, Val, is a well known jeweler of San Francisco, engaged in business under the firm style of Holland & Molkenbuhr, located in the Shreve building. He married Lillian Schussel, by whom he had three children, Vivian, Val, Jr., and Lois. Seamon, Jr., the youngest son, married Margarete Killelea and they have become the parents of two children, Seamon and James.
Mr. And Mrs. Seamon W. Molkenbuhr reside in San Francisco at 527 Fifth avenue. Domestic by nature, Mr. Molkenbuhr finds his greatest happiness at his own fireside and is devoted to his family. In politics he is a republican but has neither sought nor held public office. However, he conscientiously fulfills his obligations as a citizen and during the period of the World war was local captain of all the major drives and general of the Victory Loan campaign. He is a member of the Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church and his fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. He has membership in the San Francisco, California State and American Bar Associations and the Commonwealth Club.
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 189-191.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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