San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM THOMAS
WILLIAM THOMAS, a member of the well-known legal firm of
Olney, Chickering & Thomas, San
Francisco, was born in the city of Boston,
Massachusetts. His parents were
natives of New England, and his ancestors were among the
earliest settlers. His great-grandfather, Isaiah Thomas, was the founder of the
Worcester Spy, one of the
oldest journals in the country. He also founded and endowed the American
Antiquarian Society. The father of our subject, Hon. Benjamin F. Thomas, was a
prominent member of the Boston bar,
and was on the most distinguished Supreme Bench Massachusetts
ever had. Justice Lemuel Shaw was its presiding
Judge; Horace Grey, afterward Chief Justice and now of the United State Supreme
Court, was its official reporter. Judge Thomas married the daughter of Dr. John
Park, surgeon in the army, and well-known as the founder of a young ladies’
school. He died in 1878, and his wife’s death occurred in 1885.
Mr.
Thomas received his education in New England. After
completing his preparatory course he entered Harvard
College, taking a full course of
four years, and graduated in the class of 1873. He studied law, and after
taking a two-years course at the Harvard
Law School,
graduated in 1876, and was admitted to the bar. He went abroad spending one
year in Europe. Upon his return in 1877 he came to
California, and associated himself with W. H. Chickering,
his present partner, in the practice of law, the firm being Chickering
& Thomas until 1887, when the present firm was formed of Olney, Chickering & Thomas, one of the active leading law
firms in the city and State.
Mr.
Thomas is independent in politics. In his social relations he is prominently
identified with the new University Club, and was chosen its first President,
and he is Secretary of the Harvard Club.
Transcribed 1-2-06 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, Pages 281-282,
Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
©
2005 Marilyn R. Pankey.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library