San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM ALFRED WILLIAMS
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM ALFRED, Chief Geologist of the Associated
Oil Company of San Francisco, was born in San
Francisco, August 25, 1880, the son of William Alfred
and Lucy A. (Goodell) Williams. His paternal
ancestors were large land owners in Devonshire, England,
while on his mother’s side he is descended from the Griswolds,
a prominent New England family. His father came to America
in 1863, first settling in New Hampshire, where he was
well known as a raiser of fancy stock, but subsequently moved to California
to take charge of the New England colony at Fresno,
an intention which, however, was never realized.
W.A.
Williams attended various primary and grammar schools in San
Francisco and San Miguel, San Luis Obispo
County, was graduated in 1899 from the Paso
Robles High School,
entered Stanford University
in the fall of that year, and in 1903 took therefrom
his A.B. degree in geology and mining. In 1902 and 1903 he was appointed
assistant instructor there in mineralogy, field geology and topographical
surveying, a valuable training of which he has since made excellent use.
In
the fall of 1903 he entered the service of the United States Geological Survey
as field assistant, under F. L. Ransome, who was at
the time working in the Coeur d’Alene district, Idaho; and the next year he was
engaged on the Santa Cruz Quadrangle, in California, under Dr. J. C. Branner.
Mr.
Williams was in the employ of the Guggenheim interests in 1904, under Mr. O. B.
Perry. He left to accept a position with Horace Pomeroy, then superintendent of
the King of Arizona Gold Mine in Yuma County, Arizona.
Then followed several years of practical experience in different mines in Nevada,
Arizona, Montana and Idaho,
wherein he worked in various capacities, both in mine and mill, and obtained a knowledge of mining and milling methods in vogue in the Western
United States. Early in 1906 he became mill foreman under Mr. W.A.
Pomeroy in Chihuahua, Mexico,
and later was mine foreman for the same company. After two years of this
experience he returned to California,
where, in September, 1908, he entered the employ of the Associated Oil Company
as geologist, under W.R. Hamilton.
Until
1910, when Mr. Williams was appointed chief geologist, his field experience as
a geologist covered work in California, Texas,
Mexico and South America.
As chief geologist he reports on lands submitted to the company for its
consideration, and assists in the acquired properties. He has continued the
work of mapping geologically a large part of the state and working in detail
the geology of the possible oil territory as outlined by his predecessor. As a
result of these labors it is probable that the Associated Oil Company has
available the most nearly complete first-hand knowledge not only of the oil
fields of California, but also of
the state as a whole. In all of this Mr. Williams has been ably assisted by an
efficient staff both in the office and in the field.
He has also one of the most extensive oil libraries on the Pacific
Coast, for which he has a complete
index system whereby every article of importance published on the subject of
petroleum is readily available for reference. A fair measure of the great
success he has attained is the recognized standing of his department today among
prominent oil men, and ample evidence of the trustworthiness of his judgment is
found in the many satisfactory reports he has made to his company.
Mr.
Williams is not only conservative in his professional duties, but also in his
private and social life. While at Stanford he was a non-fraternity man, and has
since remained aloof from clubs, determined to give the best that is in him to
attain the greatest measure of success possible. The only organization of which
he is a member is the American Society of Mining Engineers.
TRANSCRIBED BY VICKY WALKER, JANUARY 16, 2007.
Source: Press Reference
Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 228,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2007 Vicky Walker.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library