San Francisco
County
Biographies
SAMUEL ARTHUR MOSS
MOSS,
SAMUEL ARTHUR, Pres., Calaveras Dredging Co., San Francisco, was born in New
Berlin, N.Y., July 2, 1867, the son of Horace O. and Isabel (White) Moss. His first ancestors to reach America came
from England in the Mayflower and settled in Massachusetts. Some of his maternal forbears fought in the
War for American Independence, and most of his people, on both sides of the
house, since their arrival in this country have been patriotic Americans. His father, Horace O. Moss, who was born in
Central, N.Y., subsequently became a well-known banker of Sandusky, Ohio, and
in Detroit, although always maintaining his residence in New Berlin, N.Y.
Born the son of a man of means, and raised
among all the comforts and luxuries which the culture of the United States and
of Europe could give him, he has yet followed some hereditary bent of his
forefathers and gone to new lands to carve out an independent career for himself. As a boy he
had a taste of the free life of the West, and although for nine years
successful in the East, he turned again in manhood to the Pacific.
From 1876 to 1878 Samuel A Moss attended
the Grammar School of New Berlin. The
next few years he spent in Europe, one year as a student at Cannstadt,
near Stuttgart, and two years at Vevey, in
Switzerland, on Lake Geneva. On his
return to America he entered St. John's School at Syracuse, N.Y., where for
three years he took a course in the sciences and the languages, specializing in
the former study. He then went to
Boston, and from 1886 to 1889 was a student of mechanical engineering at the
Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated in the latter year.
Shortly after his final graduation, and
with the intention of learning the business of locomotive construction, Mr.
Moss entered the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Philadelphia. Here his tastes for railroading, especially
for the mechanical end of it, prompted him to work as an apprentice in the
various departments for about a year. At
the end of that period, however, the lure of the mining industry in California
drew him to this State, where he has become closely identified with the gold
dredging business, as well as with other important interests.
He first entered the mining field in Eldorado County, and until 1893 was getting practical
experience therein. But in that year, a
promising opportunity presenting itself, he went to Vermont, and for the next
nine years was connected with the acturial department
of the National Life Insurance Company of that State. Returning to California in 1902 he became
interested with Wendell P. Hammon in gold dredging
and in other similar enterprises as an investor. He himself was especially attracted by the
possibilities for this form of mining in Calaveras County, which, though one of
the most famous in the State for surface placers, had not been generally
considered as a dredging field. The
marvelous success, however, of Mr. Hammon’s
operations in Butte County, which at that time was among the sensations of the
California mining world, and the favorable conditions discovered in Calaveras,
stimulated Mr. Moss to venture in the latter field. The Calaveras Gold Dredging Company was
formed, and in 1902 he was elected president thereof. Their holdings comprised an area of about 350
acres along the Calaveras river, near Jenny Lind,
averaging in depth about 33 feet. In
December, 1903, a dredge was constructed, equipped with Bucyrus machinery, and
in the following year operations were begun.
These have since been continued with most
encouraging success. A great deal of
gold has been extracted, the original equipment has been repeatedly increased,
and a larger area worked.
He has become a heavy investor in
California properties. Although gold
mining and dredging are his chief interest, he pays considerable attention to
real estate. The development of virgin
territories appeals to him especially, whether in mining or farming. He has made himself particularly useful to
every community to which he has come because he proceeds immediately to improve
his holdings, and does not wait for the general rise in values to bring him
profit.
Since that time Mr. Moss’ commercial
activities have been confined chiefly to his mining and real estate interests
in California and Mexico, especially as they relate to the most economical form
of mining yet discovered and to the development of country properties. The success of his dredging operations has
led him to explore Mexico in particular in search of other deposits of gold
gravel extensive and deep enough for dredge exploitation. They necessitate frequent trips out of town,
thereby providing him with one of the few forms of relaxation his busy life
permits.
Mr. Moss is identified with the Bohemian
Club, University and Union League Clubs of San Francisco and the Rocky Mountain
Club of New York.
Transcribed by Suzanne Wood.
Source:
Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 872,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2007 Suzanne Wood.