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F.A. Rouleau
F.A. Rouleau was one of the pioneer
contributors to the history of San Francisco, for it is the lives of its citizens
which make the history of a place, which supply its life blood and which by
their work and their loyalty, either build it up into a great city or by their
indifference to the welfare of the community as a whole, permit it to stagnate
and remain always a village. To the pioneers of the ‘50s, those brave, able,
fearless men, the City of San Francisco owes its supremacy. The mere fact that
they came proved their adventurous, fearless spirit. Their conduct in the
ensuing years either secured the respect of the rough and ready community or
thrust them forever outside the companionship of the real men.
Of the many men who arrived in San Francisco in the ‘50s, Mr. Rouleau was
one of the few who were not lured here by golden tales. The traditions of his
family and ancestry led him into an entirely different field of endeavor with
him from the east, ever found. He promoted the welfare of San Francisco by his
extended research, his knowledge of the thousands of intricate questions
involved, of great and little litigation, past and then present, which
knowledge coupled with the certainty of the unyielding quality of his moral
fixity of purpose which had gained him the reputation of being a square,
incorruptible man made him the real authority during the fierce, so called,
“squatter land fights.” To Mr. Rouleau more than to any one man, many of San
Francisco’s citizens are indebted for a title to their lands which is beyond
cavil.
He founded a successful business which is today a monument to his wisdom,
business acumen and foresight, a business which is today being carried on by
his son, O.A. Rouleau, the present Title Insurance & Guarantee Company.
F.A. Rouleau was born in St. Barthelmi, Province of Quebec, Canada, on
January 1, 1838, the son of the Notaire Francois E. Rouleau, the ancestral line
being traced back to Gabriel Rouleau who arrived in Canada in 1618 from
Touroure Au Perche in Normandy, who established himself and family on the Isle
d’Orleans near Quebec.
Mr. Rouleau was educated at the College La
Assumption and soon after finishing his studies he listened to the
solicitations of a former student friend and joined him at St. Paul. This
friend was at that time reading law and served afterwards with great
distinction for many years upon the bench in that city. This friend was the
well known and esteemed Judge Oliver. Despite the advantages to be gained by
remain in St. Paul with his friend, Mr. Rouleau decided to go to California and
in the spring of 1859 he joined a caravan, being made up at St. Joe, Missouri.
They went by way of the La Platte River route and on through Genoa, Nevada and
so, into California. As the train passed through the gold regions it numbers
gradually diminished, the men going to the mines until a very few were left
when they reached Sacramento. These few Mr. Rouleau left there, being the sole
member of the caravan to make the through trip to San Francisco, reaching there
in the fall of the year.
The father of Mr. Rouleau had succeeded his father as a notaire, in fact the office had been held in the family for several generations; under the French laws at that time, the province of this official included the drafting of marriage settlements, the drawing up of wills, conveyances, etc. In addition to being the custodian of all these documents. It was no doubt, due to this fact that Mr. Rouleau decided to take up notarial work in San Francisco, and he accepted a position with C.V. Gillespie who at that time had practically a monop0oly of the business of examination of wills.
Soon after accepting this position Mr. Rouleau met Charles H. Parker whom
he had known in St. Paul and who was then practicing law in San ‘Francisco.
They soon decided to establish a competing firm and Mr. Rouleau severed at once
his connection with Mr. Gillespie. He engaged offices in the old Montgomery
block on the southeast corner of Washington and Montgomery streets and prepared
them at once for the new firm which opened its offices for business in 1862
under the name of Parker, Rouleau & Coombs. The following year and 1863
William H.J. Brooks came into the firm, Messrs. Parker and Coombs retiring. The
firm was then known as Brooks and Rouleau. Mr. Brooks in 1850 was the editor
and proprietor of the Pioneer Magazine and later commenced work as a searcher
of records. In 1868 Mr. Brooks sold his interest to Mr. Rouleau and became
associated with the Hagin & Tevis interests in the San Joaquin Valley. Mr.
Rouleau then conducted the business a sole proprietor from 1868 until the day
of his death in 1893 save for a short association, about a year, from 1868 to
1869 with William Mull.
By nature of his business Mr. Rouleau became thoroughly conversant with
the status of the land titles of San Francisco. They were all in a very
uncertain condition, especially the lands outside the bay city limits, as laid
out in 1851,that the west of Larkin and Ninth streets. It mainly rested on the
right of possession known commonly as “squatters rights.” Many of the arrivals
in 1849 and the immediate succeeding years had opened up laundries about the
lagoons. Some went into the business of raising poultry and cattle. Many filed
pre-emption notices with impossible descriptions and did not even try to arrive
at a settlement but nearly all soon abandoned the land to go into mining.
As the city continued to grow the value of real estate increased and many
of the old squatters returned at once trying to wrest away from the new
occupants the land which they considered theirs by reason of the earlier
occupancy.
In many cases it seemed if might were right, for the people in possession
were driven off the land at the point of a gun and the so-called bad men of
that period, all armed were put in charge to keep off trespassers for which
they were paid from ten to twenty dollars per day. Despite the chaotic
conditions these lands were sold and bought regardless of conflicting claimants
and lawsuits. Upon Mr. Rouleau and men of hi profession the responsibility
rested to anticipate the out come of legal contentions and rival claimants,
from the mass of conveyances and decide who were the true holders of the
titles. This object was achieved by goin on the ground, running boundaries and
gathering all the details and actual knowledge of possession from the testimony
of pioneer neighbors.
In this way a wealth of knowledge relative to land titles was gradually
gathered by Mr. Rouleau and in time he became a leading authority in this line
of work. His word was always accepted by the bench and bar of San Francisco and
he was constantly called upon as an authority in settling disputed titles and
boundary lines.
In 1867, Mr. Rouleau married Mary McNamee and they were the parents of
four children: O.A., Laura, Estelle and Blanche.
In politics Mr. Rouleau was a republican and a member of the Catholic
Church.
His son, O.A. Rouleau, continued the
abstract and title work until 1900 and then by consolidation of the Rouleau and
the original Gillespie business, the present Title Insurance & Guarantee
Company was created.
Source: History of the San Francisco Bay Region Vol. 3 page 11-13 by
Millard. Published by The American
Historical Society, Inc. 1924.
Louise E. Shoemaker, Transcriber November 17, 2003
© 2003 Louise E.
Shoemaker