San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES G. BIRD
The president and general manager of
the Simpson-Gray Lumber Company and general manager of the Stockton Lumber
Company, Charles G. Bird is one of those energetic business men who have in a
few years brought Stockton to the front rank in the world of commerce. Although Mr. Bird is a man of more than the
ordinary social inclination, he is so persistently busy with his affairs that
it would seem that a capacity for business is his distinguishing
characteristic. By hard work and good
judgment he has forced himself in a few years from the bottom of the ladder to
one of its highest rounds. He is
preeminently a lumber man. As early as
1894 he commenced work with the Zenith Mill and Lumber Company of East Oakland,
starting as a “planer man” and rounding out four years of work as an outside
man for the company. In 1898 he became
bookkeeper and cashier. On July 15,
1899, he became connected with the Pacific Coast Lumber & Mill Company of
Oakland, which was the largest concern of its kind on San Francisco Bay at that
time. He continued with the company for
thirteen years as its secretary and treasurer, and still holds that important
position. The president and general
manager, A. Kendall, is likewise vice-president of the Simpson-Gray Lumber
Company of this city.
On October 1, 1912, Mr. Bird came to
Stockton and took over the pioneer firm of Simpson and Gray. He has ever since been its highly successful
president and general manager. In
October, 1922, he took over the management of the Stockton Lumber Company,
which next to the Simpson-Gray Lumber Company is probably the oldest retail
lumber concern on the Pacific Coast, and in December of 1922 consolidated these
two companies, thus giving him control of the two largest retail lumber
companies in the county.
Mr. Bird has, despite his private
business activities, found time for service in many organizations. During the years of 1914-1916 he was
president of the Merchants, Manufacturers and Employers’ Association of
Stockton. He is a director of the Y. M.
C. A., of the Boy Scouts, the Camp Fire Girls, Chamber of Commerce and the M.
M. & E. Association. During the year
of 1919-1920 he was president of the Rotary Club, in the activities of which he
has always taken a keen interest. He was
vicegerent snark of the Concatinated
Order of Hoo-Hoo, a lumberman’s fraternal organization, for Sacramento and
Sacramento Valley district during the years 1917-1918. He also holds membership in the various
branches of Masonry, including the Shrine.
As a member of the Stockton Municipal Camp Committee, he declared that a
few years hence Stockton is going to have the finest outdoor camp of any
municipality in California.
Since coming to Stockton, Mr. Bird
has held up his end in all public activities, and whatever enlists his
allegiance secures a worker who knows only success. Although still a young man, his range of
business experience and his knowledge of men are extensive; and his advice is
often sought in problems of the business community. Only once was Mr. Bird ever induced to dip
outside of business, and that was when he served as constable of Oakland
Township for one year. He tells of his
experiences as an officer with some merriment, being inclined to extract humor
from incidents which some might regard in a serious light.
Mr. Bird is a man who stands very
firmly by his convictions and who is not disposed to withhold his position on
any question of public nature. His
friends value him highly, and as “Charlie” he is the life of many an innocent
frolic by the Rotarians. Likewise, he
takes a keen interest in moral betterment for the community, his position in
the Y. M. C. A. and in other organizations indicating his willingness to bear
his share of the work. Above all, Mr.
Bird delights in his home life, and his fondness for the sturdy American virtues
is very strong. As a young man he
succeeded to the conduct of the great business of the Simpson & Gray Lumber
Company, the oldest in its line in the state, and his success indicates that
with keen business ability may be combined high social and civic qualities, all
of which go to round out the really successful man.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1104-1107. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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