San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY ELLIS SANDERSON, M. D.
Bearing a family name that was
linked with California’s earliest days; Dr. Henry Ellis Sanderson has made a
name for himself in his chosen profession of medicine, and has the distinction
of having been a member of the medical staff of the State Hospital at Stockton
for more than twenty-five years. Born at
Stockton June 27, 1858, Dr. Sanderson is the son of George H. and Sarah (Rowe) Sanderson;
the father a native of Boston, Massachusetts, while the mother was born in
Maine, both being descended from old New England families. George H. Sanderson came to California in
1850, sailing around the Horn, and he became a member of the Territorial
Society of the state, arriving here before California’s admission to the
Union. Locating at Stockton soon after
his arrival, he opened a grocery store with H. O. Matthews as a partner, conducting
it for a number of years. He was
numbered among Stockton’s most energetic business men of that period and was
engineer of the Volunteer Fire Department, a famous organization of the town’s
early days.
In 1865 George H. Sanderson took up
his residence in San Francisco, where he became one of the leading merchants of
that city, establishing a wholesale merchandise business there under the firm
name of Weaver, Wooster & Co., and when that firm dissolved he went into
partnership with E. M. Root as Root & Sanderson, wholesale grocers, which
was very successful. A staunch
Republican, he became active in politics and was mayor of San Francisco in
1891-92, passing away there in 1893, prominent in the ranks of the Odd
Fellows. Four sons were born to Mr. and
Mrs. George H. Sanderson: George Rowe,
Edward Hall, William W. and Henry Ellis, twins.
The only surviving member of the
family, Henry Ellis Sanderson was educated in the public schools of San
Francisco, graduating from the University of California in the class of 1879.
He then entered Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, receiving his M. D.
degree there in 1885, after which he went to New York and spent two years as an
interne in the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. Going abroad for study, he took a
post-graduate course in Germany, remaining there for two and a half years and
establishing himself in private practice when in 1891 he returned to San
Francisco. In January, 1895, he was
called to Stockton to fill a vacancy on the staff of the State Hospital here, a
post that he has since continuously filled with fidelity and marked
ability. A physician of broad and
comprehensive training, Dr. Sanderson is accounted one of the substantial men
of the community and in his long years of service he has attained a high place
in the confidence and regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact
in his various relations.
At San Francisco, December 12, 1894,
Dr. Sanderson was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Gill, a native
daughter of the Golden State, born in Petaluma, whose father and mother were
natives of Connecticut and New York City respectively. Two sons were born to Dr. and Mrs.
Sanderson: George Henry Sanderson, M.
D., graduated from the Medical Department of University of California in the
class of 1922 and is now assistant surgeon at University of California
Hospital, in San Francisco; Henry Ellis, Jr., a graduate of West Point, is now
first lieutenant of Artillery, U. S. A., and is stationed at Fort Benning,
Georgia. In fraternal circles Dr.
Sanderson is a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. Elks.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1251-1252. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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