San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ANDREW W. SIMPSON
Prominent among the leading captains
of California industry whose exemplary lives and progressive enterprise made
them eminent and influential in their day, was the late Andrew W. Simpson, who
passed away on June 22, 1921, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. It was truly said of him, by a contemporary
familiar with his character and daily routine, that he was among those who have
builded for all time, and who have so lived their lives that in the evening of
their earthly journey they would be able to look back, without regret, upon
work well done, and with the knowledge that they had always enjoyed the esteem
and confidence of both their business associates and the social world at large.
A native of Maine, Mr. Simpson was
born on July 15, 1831, at Brunswick, Cumberland County, the son of Thomas and
Eliza (Whitehouse) Simpson, both natives of that state, and a descendant,
through his father’s side, of a seafaring and shipbuilding class of men. His father and three of his brothers were
shipbuilders, and two of his brothers were captains of vessels, and anyone
knowing the history of the early American commercial navy, will realize what an
honorable and aggressive part the builder and skipper from Maine took in making
our flag known in every quarter of the globe.
It was natural, therefore, that at a very early age the lad should be
instructed by his father as to the names of the various parts of a ship and
their uses, and in many ways initiated into boat building and management. One of the younger members of the family, he
was given chores about the home place, while he attended the local school; and
as education was highly esteemed in good old Maine, he was being prepared for
college when the call of the El Dorado of the west proved too appealing to be
resisted.
Three of Andrew Simpson’s brothers,
Lewis, Asa M. and Isaiah, had gone to California in the famous year of ’49, and
they fared so luckily here from the start, that they sent back the most
favorable reports as to the opportunities here and naturally urged their
younger brother to follow in their wake.
This was easier said than done; for after he had arranged for his
transportation, he still had to borrow $150 to defray his expenses, and even
that was so inadequate in comparison with what was needed to reach California
at a time when everybody wanted to come and there were limited facilities for
travel, that on landing in San Francisco he boasted as capital the exact sum of
ten cents. He took passage on the
steamer Daniel Webster, as a matter-of-fact, on her maiden voyage, when she
brought the first lake steamer used to convey emigrants across Lake Nicaragua;
and he was always fond of telling, in after years, the most absorbing stories of
what he saw and heard, and of the amusing adventures befalling him and his
fellow travelers.
Coming of substantial New England
stock, Andrew W. Simpson was fortunate in having his parents instill into him
the precepts of honor and integrity as well as the habits of industry and the
love of hard, manly work; and these precepts and virtues he carried with him,
as the other children had done, upon leaving the paternal roof. In a sense, they were his main asset, when he
began the battle for existence in the new-formed state; but they proved an
asset of inestimable value urging him on progressively, and they assisted him
wonderfully in attaining by steady, aggressive drives, an enviable and an
almost astonishing success. After
landing and looking around he decided not to tarry in the Bay City but to come
direct to Stockton; and here he at once secured work in the lumber business
established by his brother. He added to
what he already knew and during the next few years gained a very thorough
knowledge of the industry, particularly as to California’s lumber conditions;
and in 1853 he established a partnership with George Gray and so first struck
out for himself.
They bought out the brother, Asa M.
Simpson, and also a Mr. Jackson, and opened a lumber business which was carried
on by them together until Andrew Simpson’s retirement. It was soon demonstrated that of the two, Mr.
Simpson was a very capable buyer of stock, and it came to pass that all
purchases were left to him; and eventually Mr. Gray attributed much of the
success of the firm to this wise division of activities. For more than fifty-five years their office
was in the same location and was one of the best known business headquarters in
Stockton, although at first its front faced Commerce Street; but in 1861 such
changes were made that it fronted on Weber Avenue. The main yard was bounded by Commerce, Main
and Madison streets and also Weber Avenue, and they had three other yards in
the city to further protect their interests, doing in early days a large
wholesale trade. This location and long
tenure of position enabled the authorities, by means of marks made by Mr.
Simpson on the cornerstone at the main yard, to determine the record of the
high water in 1906, and to prove conclusively that the waters rose higher then
than during the memorable flood of 1861-62.
By conservative methods, and through
strict integrity and a commendable liberality in dealing with patrons, the firm
were able to accumulate valuable property interests in both city and county, the
administration of which always worked for the development on broad lines of
community interests, and so was of benefit to others besides themselves; and
this is of the more historic interest because, during all the years in which
the wide-awake firm operated, Mr. Simpson was the recognized head of the
company, to whose unerring judgment the success of their ventures was
invariably referred. But though devoted
to business for such a long period that he was both an eyewitness and a
participant in many of the great changes that took place in the growth of the
state, he was ever active in civic affairs, and maintained a live interest in
all that made for the expansion of the city and the welfare of the people. From its infancy, Mr. Simpson was connected
with the Stockton Savings and Loan Bank; he was a member of the Weber Fire
Engine Company, and cherished his affiliations with the survivors of that early
organization. An active worker in the
ranks of the Republican Party, he gave much thought to its platform work and
contributed largely in funds towards its success; and he proudly voted for
every Republican candidate for President since the stirring campaign of John C.
Fremont, and in 1868, he was a delegate to the national convention held at
Chicago, where he entertained and inspired many by his personal narrative of
the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. He
was untiring in his political activity, and yet never accepted other than
honorary recognition from his party; and his genuine Americanism was shown in
his willingness to support every good local measure and candidate, untrammeled
by any narrow partisanship. In all the
years of his residence in Stockton, attests a writer of a generation ago, his
integrity was never questioned, and early in his business career he established
a reputation for honesty and fair dealing.
While on a visit to Maine in 1863,
Mr. Simpson married Miss Augusta D. Pennell, a native of his home county, where
she was born in 1842; and they made their wedding journey to California via
Panama. Upon returning to Stockton he
built for his bride the residence at the corner of El Dorado and Oak streets,
regarded at that time as a veritable palatial home, where he breathed his last,
following two weeks of illness; and where five of their six children were born,
two dying in infancy and one daughter, Jessica Pennell, at the age of
twenty-four. Those children now living
are Estelle S., the widow of the late Minot Tirrell,
Bertha G. and Andrew W., Jr.
Mr. Simpson was very fond of outdoor
sports, as might have been expected of a son of Maine who had the good fortune
to come out to California in the days where the Golden State was “all
outdoors,” and in the prime of manhood, he spent many leisure hours with rod
and gun. His judgment was regarded as a
factor in the successful management of the Stockton Savings and Loan Bank, and
just prior to his fatal illness, he made a special effort to attend a meeting
of the directors. He was generous to a
fault, and quietly and unknown only to the recipients of his kindness, he often
assisted others less fortunate than himself.
He was, however, above all a kind and indulgent husband and father, and
his happiest hours were spent at the fireside of his own home. The center of innumerable ideal friendships,
his death occasioned widespread sorrow as his life had added to the luster of
his land and day.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
504-508. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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