Faxon Atherton

Faxon Dean Atherton (1815–1877)[2] was an American businessman, trader and landowner; initially successful in Valparaíso, Chile, he became a prominent citizen of San Mateo County, California.[3] He is the namesake of Atherton, California.[4]

Faxon Dean Atherton
BornJanuary 29, 1815[1]
Dedham, Massachusetts, US
DiedJuly 18, 1877(1877-07-18) (aged 62)
San Mateo County, California, US
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Early life

Faxon Dean Atherton was born on Jan 29, 1815 in Dedham, Massachusetts into an established New England family, with roots back to the colonial period of the United States. He was the son of Abner Atherton and Betsey Dean of Dedham, Massachusetts.[5]

Boston Merchant

In 1830, Atherton entered the shipping and merchant business at the age of 15 as an apprentice to his brother-in-law, merchant Charles T. Ward. Within two years he started his own hauling business in Boston, Massachusetts in 1832. This was not enough for young Atherton, who wanted to travel and seek his fortune in South America. He left Boston in 1833, with a motley of cargo goods valued at $500. It included cigars, cologne, brushes, shoes and German harps. Upon arrival in Valparaiso, Chile he quickly sold all his cargo to Augustus Hemenway's commission firm.[6]

Early years in Chile (1833-1836)

Atherton got to know Elishu Loring, a shipping agent and secured a position with Loring & Co, a ship chandlery firm. He was made responsible for the operation of vessels plying between Boston - Valparaíso, Chile and Monterey, California. After working in Chile for a year he sailed to Hawaii to investigate business opportunities there. He returned to Valparaíso and engaged with the hide and tallow trade. In Valparaíso, established a ship chandler's store, trading in tallow, hides, and merchandise.[7]

Around 1835, he met George Henry Bowen, who would become his business partner and lifelong friend.[8]

California (1836-1838)

His friend and business associate in the hide and tallow trade, Thomas Larkin urged Atherton to move to California. Larkin wrote:

“... [T]here is education available for your children and a dignity of living on landed estates down the San Francisco peninsula (that is) convenient and accessible ... [Y]ou and I were of that country. Our eyes were turned towards it in admiration and in my part in gratitude. My children were from there. They and yours will soon be."

Atherton traveled to Alta California after a period of trading in Chile. He first visited San Francisco, California in 1836, when the city was in its infancy.[9]

During this period, Atherton penned his California diary and formed friendships with many prominent Californians, including Carlos Antonio Carrillo, José Antonio Carrillo, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Juan Bandini and Thomas O. Larkin, the United States Consul at Monterey (with whom he would later be associated with in many real estate and commercial ventures).

From 1836 to 1838, Atherton worked as a clerk for Captain Alpheus Basil Thompson (1795–1869),[10] a seagoing merchant originally from Brunswick, Maine who by the 1830s had become engaged in the hides and tallow trade on the California coast. Thompson had married into the powerful Carrillo family, which would have opened doors for Atherton. He became familiar with important California leaders, Mexican and American, as well as members of California's foremost influential families; including the Vallejos, Bandinis, and De la Guerras.

Several governors of the Mexican era were also his friends, among them Nicolas Gutierrez, José Castro, and Mariano Chico, as were many traders such as W. E. P. Hartnell, Nathan Spear; and the laters nephew, William Heath Davis, Jr.

It was time of influx of settlers from New England. His friend, William Heath Davis came from Boston seafaring, ship-owning family. He was a clerk of a store in Monterey which was owned by his uncle, Nathan Spear. Like Atherton he liked the daughters of powerful men. He engaged in trading trips to Yerba Buena and the Hawaiian Islands and by 1845 he had settled in San Francisco, established his own business and became one of the city's most prominent merchants and ship owners. In 1847 Davis married María de Jesús Estudillo, daughter of Joaquin Estudillo, a wealthy rancher.

Honolulu (1838-1839)

Atherton was described by John Sutter as an upstanding merchant from Honolulu who later moved to California.[11] Sutter enjoyed dining with Atherton during his stay in Honolulu, whilst he waited for a boat to take him to California.

In 1839 Atherton left Oahu on the Don Quixote,[12] and sailed back to New England (via Valparaíso and Cape Horn) with 540 hides valued at $1000. He arrived in Boston during May and sold his cargo in Boston. Whilst in Boston he tried unsuccessfully to raise $4,500 to build a highway between Valparaiso and Santiago. Instead he returned to Chile with a $259 rotary printing press and a supply of enamel “address cards”.

Chile (1839-1858)

Atherton settled permanently in Valparaiso and became a successful merchant dealing in hides and tallow, foodstuffs, and other commodities. He married into a prominent Chilean family in 1843 and soon had a family. Atherton wrote to his friend Larkin in Aug 1843 to say that he had got married the previous month. Atherton's letter also highlights the trade route in place at the time between Valparaíso - Mazatlán - San Francisco.[13]

Between 1841 and 1846 Atherton had tried to lure his friend Larkin into the Valparaiso lumber market. Although Atherton assured him that goods in Chile were cheeper , Larkin did not become interested in this trade, instead focusing on Mexico.[14] Early in 1846, Larkin had received instructions from Secretary of State James Buchanan to begin working covertly to assure all concerned that the United States would support any attempt at secession from Mexico.

During the Mexican War his wealth increased steadily and he wrote to Larkin that he had accepted drafts for $300,000 from whalers that had all been honored.

California becomes part of the United States of America

Atherton had followed events on annexation of California from Chile and Tahiti and was very much in favor of it being incorporated into the United States.[15] The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially titled the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic,[16] was signed on February 2, 1848, between the United States and Mexico that ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).[17]

The treaty called for the U.S. to pay US$15 million to Mexico and to pay off the claims of American citizens against Mexico up to US$5 million. It gave the United States the Rio Grande as a boundary for Texas, and gave the U.S. ownership of California. Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico's new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. This would open great opportunities for Atherton, along with the California gold rush,[18] where Atherton amassed a great fortune from his many enterprises; his shipping business and the import and export of goods.[19]

In 1848, he corresponded with Larkin over the disappearance of his brother Robert Atherton in Mazatlán the previous year.[20] Atherton's brother was working for Larkin on a Gold project in Mazatlán.

California Gold Rush

Atherton was a little skeptical of the first gold seekers leaving Valparaíso for California. Instead he had hoped coal would be found.

Larkin wrote to Atherton during 1849 on California's first boom:

“JAN. 19, 1849

We yet remain in a quiet state under the combined influence of some gospel and plenty of law, the beauty of the first exemplified in many who attend church from early habits or to set an example without caring much what creed they listen to, only being aware that the preacher is a fine looking man and his sermon is orthodox, in quality and quantity. The law we have or live under is brief and accommodating, each party concerned bringing proof that either the laws of Mexico or the U.S. are or ought to be in force. The defenders of the latter are rather split into small parties as each advocates the law of his native state as the only just and true one”......“Law, gospel and politics are beginning to be obsolete in the great eagerness to obtain a share of the [gold] placer. Last July gold diggers were satisfied to obtain 2 or 3 ounces of gold per day. Now they throw up spade and pickaxe if they do not find every heave or two a “junk” of gold. Up to $600 have been [paid] for single lumps.”

“Many young men, who in May 1847 had less than $400, are now doing well and worth $5,000 to $30,000. … People come in by the hundreds, where they sleep I know not … My head whirls with speculation! My hair grows grey by the excessive working of my brain and ambitions! … Every one is becoming rich!”[21]

By 1850, Atherton and his friend George Bowen had joined Loring & Co., Valparaíso as partners. It would take a further eight years and the death of his friend Larkin for him to make the decision to settle permanently in California.

California (1858-1877)

Atherton arrived with his family from Chile in 1858.[22] His friend Larkin, who at the time of his death was one of the richest individuals in San Francisco had died of Typhoid that same year. Atherton went on to become one of the wealthiest men on the Pacific Coast, making extensive investments in California commerce and real estate.[23]

Expansion into California

In 1853, he hired San Francisco agent Alexander B. Grogan to represent his interests in California. However it would not be until 1860 that Atherton would return to California to settle permanently.

Atherton had a business acquaintance with Guillermo Castro, a rancher, surveyor and a former magistrate under the Mexican administration, who had turned to selling large parcels of land in order to reduce his gambling debt. Atherton would lend him money, however took ownership of the land when Castro defaulted on his debt. Castro's final rancho was sold in 1864 to Atherton for $400,000, with a now destitute Castro leaving for Chile.[24]

By the 1860s Atherton had settled with his family in the then-fashionable section of San Francisco, Rincon Hill.[25] Other residents included the Latham's, Ralstons, Millses, Stanford's, Sharon's, Donohoes, Floods, O'Briens, Fairs, Selby's and Eyre's. Atherton wanted to be in the company of those who built not just the banks and railroads of the American West, but the cultural and intellectual institutions as well.

He focused on ensuring his daughters married into other influential families, and they did, by marrying into the Macondray, Selby and Eyre families.

Valparaiso Park

Atherton is credited with initiating the custom of owning a country house on the Peninsula and was soon followed by other prominent San Francisco families—the Selbys, the Floods, the Macondrays, and later the Hopkins and the Stanfords.

Atherton had chosen to liquidate all his assets in Chile and reinvested heavily into California. His real estate purchases included Valparaiso Park in San Mateo County; the land now forms much of present-day Atherton. This included 640 acres (2.6 km2) at ten dollars an acre of land on the San Francisco peninsula in what was then known as Fair Oaks, becoming one of the first residents of the area. He built his home, Valparaíso Park,[26][27] situated approximately where the Menlo Circus Club, 190 Park Lane, Atherton has operated as a private country club since 1923.[28][29]

Land Speculation and Disputes

Atherton's land purchases from the 1850s to 1875 included:

Many of the above were subject to court claims by former rancheros such as the Vallejo family. During the conversion of land, records under the Land Commission were changed and Ygnacio's small ranch grew from several thousand acres to 42,000 acres (170 km2). Owners of plots dating back to the Hispanic period, including Indians, Mexicans, and Spaniards, on land not originally owned by Pastor became squatters overnight. Atherton then sent notice to evict them. Many were settlers on improved lands awaiting pre-emption, including George Dutton and others who had believed they owned property in the town of Jolon.

Board memberships

Atherton served on the Board of Trustees of the Lick Trust from 1875. This trust had been set up initially by James Lick in 1874 but he replaced the board with Atherton, John Nightingale, Bernard D. Murphy and John H. Lick.[33]

Other business interests

He became prominent in banking, financial enterprises and railroad building. He played an instrumental role in the construction of a railroad in Hayward.[34]

Personal

After a period of courtship, Atherton married Dominga Rosario Goñi Prieto[35] of (1823-1800) on Jul 7, 1843 in Valparaíso, Chile. She was born on Aug 4, 1823 into a prominent Valparaíso family. Biographers have described her as a plump, witty young woman. She spoke no English.[36] They had nine children (with seven children reaching adulthood); all but one child (Florence), was born in Chile.

Biographers have described Atherton as a persistent womanizer, for having had a string of affairs.

Children of Faxon Dean Atherton and Dominga Goñi De Atherton
  1. Maria Alejandra (Atherton) Rathbone[37] (1844-1913).[38] Born on May 7, 1844 in Valparaiso, Chile. Maria married Jared Lawrence Rathbone (1844-1907) of Albany, New York; the son of Jared Lewis Rathbone, the first elected Mayor of Albany. In 1864 his brother Henry Rathbone had attempted to subdue John Wilkes Booth after he had shot Abraham Lincoln.
  2. Elena or Helena Amanda (Atherton) Selby (1845-1906). Elena was born on Dec 5, 1845 in Valparaíso, Chile. She married Captain Frederick William Macondray, Jr (1840-1884) [39] of Boston, Massachusetts, the son of one of the first merchants of San Francisco and large land owner. Subsequently she became the wife of Percival W. Selby (1864-1927), the son of Thomas Henry Selby (1820-1875). Died Jun 1, 1906, aged 60 in Menlo Park. Some records indicate that her name was Dominga Helena.
  3. Anacleto Francisco Atherton (1849 - 1891) was also known as Frank. He was born on Jun 16, 1849 in Valparaíso, Chile. He died on Oct 18, 1891 in Madrid, Spain, aged 42.
  4. George H. B. Atherton (1851-1887)[40] was also known as Jorge H. Bowen Atherton.[41] He married Gertrude Franklin Horn, known as the successful author Gertrude Atherton[42][43][44][45] (1857-1948). He initially dated her mother, but decided to elope with Gertrude in 1876.
  5. Eulogia Isabel (Atherton) Edwards (1853-1902). Eulogia was known as Isabel and was born on Oct 19, 1853 in Valparaíso, Chile. She married Enrique Edwards, a member of the Edwards family of Valparaíso, Chile as Eulogia Isabel Atherton Goñi (in line with Chilean tradition she took her mother's name.
  6. Faxon Dean Atherton, Jr (1855-1922) was also known as Francisco Fascon Atherton was born on Sep 12, 1857 in Valparaíso, Chile. He married “Jeanie” (also known as Jane/Jenny) Selby, the daughter of Thomas Henry Selby.
  7. Florence (Atherton) Eyre (1861-1934). She was born 1861. In 1886 she married Edward ‘Ed’ Lilburn Eyre.[46] He became the first mayor of Atherton.[47]

Death

Atherton died in Valparaiso Park on July 18, 1877. His wife died on Sep 20, 1890 in San Francisco, aged 67.

Although not a Catholic at birth. He was married by the Catholic Church in Valparaíso. His wife was a devout Catholic. Atherton was buried at the Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.[2]

Legacy

After Atherton's death, Alexander B. Grogan served as the executor of his estate.

The California Diary of Faxon Dean Atherton 1836 - 1839

Atherton gave an eyewitness account as a twenty-one year old Bostonian of his hide and tallow trading days in Mexican California. The California Diary of Faxon Dean Atherton 1836 - 1839 was published in 1964 by the California Historical Society and edited by Doyce B. Nunis[48]

The publication of Atherton's California Journal has been described as a single event in the recorded history of California. As a young man from New England, Atherton vividly recorded much of the turbulent change and innovation in the California of the 1830s. The Editor of the journal, Dr. Nunis was the editor of the Southern California Quarterly during the 1960s and when promoting his book in the December 1964 edition of The California Historical Society Quarterly was quoted saying:

“Since Atherton begins where Richard Henry Dana leaves off, his diary is not an unworthy companion to Dana's classic.

Atherton's journal also indicates that he had an eye out for alluring women, and he wrote several gamey passages (as on pp. 122 and 144). Several pages are also missing and researchers have indicated that this may be the reason why they were removed; thus preserving his moral character.[49]

Atherton House

His widow was responsible for building “Atherton House”, 1990 California St, San Francisco (located on the corner with Octavia St) in 1881. National Register #79000527.[50]

Family Papers

The Faxon Dean Atherton family papers are held by the California Historical Society.[51] Other papers are held at Berkeley.[52]

Town of Atherton, California

The town of Atherton, previously known as "Fair Oaks" is named after him.[53] During the 1920s the Fair Oaks (Atherton) town fathers had wanted to retain the name of Fair Oaks, commemorating both the town's native oak trees and the Union Army's victory at Fair Oaks, Virginia, in 1862. Unfortunately, the name was already taken by a suburb of Sacramento, so after a shortlist, Atherton was chosen as the towns new name in honor of one of the first principal landowners. The town was incorporated on September 12, 1923.[54] However, as early as 1912, it was already being referred to by that name.[7] Some of his children's names appear on West Atherton street signs: Isabella, Alejandra and Elena.

Family

His relatives include:

His daughter Florence has been confused by researchers with Florence Atherton Spalding, who was a Boston music teacher who married the same year (1886).

He is a direct descendant of James Atherton,[55][56] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1630s.

References
  1. Date of birth confirmation at JSTOR
  2. "Faxon Dean Atherton entry on the Atherton One Name Study (includes ancestry and a portrait)".
  3. Stanger, pg. 112
  4. "History of Atherton, California".
  5. "Abner Atherton entry in the Atherton One Name Study".
  6. James Monaghan, Jay Monaghan (January 1973). Chile, Peru, and the California Gold Rush of 1849. ISBN 9780520022652.
  7. Hynding, p. 115
  8. "Atherton's lifelong friendship with George H Bowen".
  9. "Atherton, F D Pioneer - Menlo Park".
  10. From the description of Alpheus B. Thompson papers, 1825-1864., University of California Press / WorldCat record id: 84653505
  11. Iris Wilson Engstrand, Kenneth N. Owens (2004). John Sutter: Sutter's Fort and the California Gold Rush. ISBN 9780823966301.
  12. "Don Quixote sailed the Pacific".
  13. Thomas Oliver Larkin (1968). "The Larkin Papers:Personal, Business, and Official,Volume 11".
  14. Virginia Hull Baker, University of Massachusetts Amherst (1959). "Thomas Oliver Larkin, pioneer merchant of California, 1832-1846".
  15. Edward D. Melillo (2015). Strangers on Familiar Soil: Rediscovering the Chile-California Connection. ISBN 9780300206623.
  16. "Treaty facsimile". www.loc.gov.
  17. "Avalon Project – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; February 2, 1848". Avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  18. "Atherton and Larkin Gold Rush Capitilizers".
  19. "Miners vs. Merchants: How Global Trade Made Men Wealthy during the California Gold Rush".
  20. "Larkin to Atherton Correspondence 1848". JSTOR 41170073. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. "Larkin's Gold Rush letters to his friend F W Atherton".
  22. "Atherton family arrive in California in 1858". 1902.
  23. "History Center - San Luis Obispo".
  24. Douglas E. Kyle, Hero Eugene Rensch, Ethel Grace Rensch, Mildred Brooke Hoover, William Abelo (6 September 2002). Historic Spots in California: Fifth Edition. ISBN 9780804778176.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. Albert Shumate (1988). Rincon Hill and South Park: San Francisco's Early Fashionable Neighborhood. ISBN 9780915269082.
  26. "Residence of Mr. Atherton, Menlo Park".
  27. "Watercolor of F D Atherton's home in Menlo Park".
  28. "Atherton Home in Valparaíso Park".
  29. Menlo Polo Club
  30. "Rancho Milipitas drought of the 1860s and Purchase by Atherton" (PDF).
  31. "Map of Rancho San Lorenzo".
  32. "List of Ranches owned by Atherton".
  33. Young, John Philip. San Francisco - A History of the Pacific Coast Metropolis, Vol. 2. ISBN 9783849678128.
  34. Bancroft (June 2009). California Pioneer Register and Index, 1542-1848. ISBN 9780806348933.
  35. "Photograph of Dominga de Goñi Atherton".
  36. "Dominga Goñi entry on the Atherton ONS".
  37. "Photograph of Maria "Alejandra" (Atherton) Rathbone".
  38. "Alejandra Atherton entry on Atherton ONS".
  39. Phleger Estate, Historic Resource Study for Golden Gate national Recreation Area in San Mateo County (PDF) (Report). National Park Service. 2010.
  40. "Jorge Atherton entry on Atherton ONS".
  41. "Picture of George Atherton".
  42. "Gertrude Atherton Loved Herself, hated Menlo Park".
  43. "Gertrude Atherton Biography".
  44. "Gertrude Atherton Filmography bio entry on IMDB".
  45. "Gertrude Atherton Biography".
  46. "Edward Eyre son in law of Faxon D Atherton. The first mayor of Atherton California".
  47. "Atherton History".
  48. Doyce B. Nunis (1964). The California Diary of Faxon Dean Atherton 1836 - 1839. ISBN 9780910312004.
  49. Andrew F. Rolle (1964). "Review of the California Diary of Faxon D. Atherton".
  50. "Atherton House - National Register #79000527".
  51. "Faxon D.Atherton Family Papers at the California Historical Society".
  52. "Atherton records at Berkeley".
  53. "Atherton Heritage Association". Archived from the original on 2009-09-13.
  54. Bush & Merrill, pg. 7
  55. "James Atherton entry on the Atherton ONS".
  56. "James Atherton of Dorchester settled in Lancaster Massachusetts in 1654".

Further reading
  • Atherton, Faxon Dean. “The California Diary of Faxon Dean Atherton, 1836-1839”. Edited with an Introduction by DOYCE B. NUNIS, JR. (San Francisco and Los Angeles, California Historical Society, 1964. xxxii + 246 pp
  • Stanger, Frank M. "South from San Francisco", 1963, Publisher San Mateo County Historical Association.
  • Bush, Sarah L. & Merrill, Genevieve. "Atherton Lands", 1979 (Self published.)
  • Hynding, Alan. "From Frontier to Suburb: The Story of The San Mateo Peninsula", 1985, ISBN 0-89863-056-8
  • Alexander, Philip W., "History of San Mateo County : from the earliest times, with a description of its resources and advantages, and the biographies of its representative men.", 1916, Burlingame, California: Press of Burlingame Pub. Co.
  • Cloud, Roy W., “History of Atherton, California” From: “The Story of San Mateo County, California”, 1928, Chicago, Ill: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
  • Atherton Mansion and the corpse in the barrel
  • A body in the rum barrel: The true story behind San Francisco's booziest, weirdest ghost
  • Faxon Atherton made his money in lumber and returned to Chile in the 1830s
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