Alameda County
Biographies
JOSEPH W. BINGAMAN.
One of the most prominent and enterprising young attorneys of Oakland is Joseph W. Bingaman, practicing as a member of the firm of Reed, Black, Nusbaumer & Bingaman. He was born in Salinas, California, on the 1st of March, 1881, and is a son of W. H. and Isabella Bingaman. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native community and in 1898 he went to Berkeley, where he entered the high school, graduating in 1900. He afterward became a student in the University of California, receiving his bachelor's degree from that institution in 1904, after which he took up the study of law, graduating from the legal department of the State University in 1908 with the degree of Doctor of Law (J. D.). In the same year he began the practice of his profession as a clerk with the firm of Reed, Black & Reed, but he proved such a strong and able practitioner that in 1912 he was admitted to the firm, the name being then Reed, Black, Reed & Bingaman, since which time Clarence Reed has retired and Emil Nusbaumer become a member, the firm name now being Reed, Black, Nusbaumer
Bingaman. This is one of the most important law firms in Oakland, connected through its extensive practice with a great deal of notable litigation, and its junior member has proven himself fully up to the high standards which have always distinguished its other representatives. Mr. Bingaman specializes in probate and real-estate law and trial work and for the past five years has also been acting as attorney for George Gray, public administrator.
Mr. Bingaman together with his copartners is also associated with Charles F. Lee of Fruitvale and Walter A. Clark of San Francisco in the ownership and subdivision of a tract of land containing about eight thousand acres in Fresno county. The land is adapted especially to the growth of alfalfa and is one of the largest irrigation projects in Fresno county.
In Oakland on the 8th of September, 1909, Mr. Bingaman was united in marriage to Miss Genevieve Kimball, and they have become the parents of two children: Jean, aged three and one-half years; and Geraldine, one year and six months. Fraternally Mr. Bingaman is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Masonic order and the Phi Delta Phi, and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He belongs to the Methodist church and has done active and helpful work as a member of the Oakland Commercial Club. He is still a young man, but his ability has carried him forward into important professional relations and his many friends do not hesitate to predict for him continued and rapid progress in his chosen field.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 37
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
GEORGE E. SLEEPER.
George E. Sleeper, a representative of a well known pioneer family of California, prominently connected with business interests of Oakland as manager of the Oakland Clearing House Association, was born in this state in 1874. His father, Charles Sleeper, a native of Maine, came to California in 1861 and for a time mined at Columbia, Tuolumne county. He is now manager of the San Francisco Clearing House. George E. Sleeper's grandfather, W. O. Sleeper, was one of the earliest settlers in this state, having arrived here in 1851. He was one of the first bankers in California, conducting a bank at Columbia.
George E. Sleeper acquired his education in the public schools of San Francisco and later engaged in the electrical business in Oakland. During the last eighteen years he has been connected with the clearing house business in San Francisco and Oakland and a great deal of his present success is due to his wide experience and detailed knowledge. When the Oakland Clearing House Association was organized in 1906 Mr. Sleeper was chosen its manager, and this position he has filled with credit and ability since that time. He occupies an enviable position in business circles of the city as a man whose sagacity is far-reaching and whose integrity is beyond question.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 38
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
GEORGE J. McDONOUGH.
Actively connected with a profession which has important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of any section or community and one which has long been considered as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of justice and maintaining individual rights, George J. McDonough has won success as a lawyer, practicing before the bar of Oakland.
He is one of California's native sons, his birth having occurred in Eureka on the 8th of February, 1879, his parents being John and Margaret McDonough. In the public schools he pursued his education until sixteen years of age, after which he matriculated at St. Mary's College in Oakland, graduating therefrom in 1902. His legal training was acquired at Hastings College of Law, which he attended for a year and eight months, and then, with wide general information and careful preparation, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court. He did not at once, however, embark upon his professional career as a lawyer but accepted a position as instructor at the Sacred Heart College of San Francisco, which he capably and efficiently filled until April, 1906, when he resigned. Since that year he has been engaged in active practice in Oakland, making a specialty of criminal law, and his success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court and he has won for himself most favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods which he follows in the conduct of his cases.
Mr. McDonough was married in San Francisco on the 14th of June, 1908, to Miss Syd Frances Reidy, and they are well known and popular in the social circles of Oakland. Mr. McDonough belongs to the Catholic church and his political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party. He is yet numbered among the younger generation of practitioners in this city but, possessing the qualities of an able lawyer, he has already established a good practice in the line of his specialty, his increasing reputation bringing him more and more into connection with litigation of an important and distinctively representative character.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 39
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler