Alameda County
Biographies
JOHN MITCHELL.
Among the prominent and highly esteemed citizens of Alameda county is John Mitchell, chairman of the state board of equalization and a resident of Oakland. He was born of Scotch parentage in Saint Andrews, Montreal, Canada, January 1, 1862. He is a son of the Rev. Andrew and Elizabeth (Patton) Mitchell. His father was a Baptist minister who had been graduated from Andover (Mass.) Theological Seminary. For a time he was in Canada and then returned to the United States, serving his denomination until 1878, when he came to Oakland and retired to private life. It was there he died at the age of eighty-two years.
Following the removal of the family across the border into the United States, Mr. Mitchell attended the public schools in Chester, New Hampshire, afterward becoming a student in the Chester Academy, in which he continued until fifteen years of age. After leaving school he took up the study of shoe designing and was in the leather business for twelve years. He then came to Oakland and entered the shoe store supply business with S. H. Steward, under the firm name of Mitchell and Steward. This relation was maintained until 1899, when Mr. Mitchell retired from the business. In 1896 Mr. Mitchell was elected supervisor of the fifth district and served as such for twelve years, being for eight years chairman of the board of supervisors. Continuously he has held office for eighteen years and the record which he has made is most commendable. In 1910 he was elected to the state board of equalization and following the resignation of Hon. A. B. Nye, he was elected chairman and still occupies the position. The important duties of the position are faithfully and capably discharged and fairness, justice and progress have characterized him in all of his official capacities.
In 1903 he joined Jas. T. Gardner in the wholesale and retail grocery business under the name of the Gardner-Mitchell Company. They first established a place of business on Broadway and later on Telegraph avenue.
In December, 1882, Mr. Mitchell was married in Berkeley, California, to Miss Minnie A. Gibbons, the daughter of Henry and Melissa (Merryfield) Gibbons, and unto them have been born five children, three sons and two daughters: Elsie; Edna, deceased; John G Raymond A.; and Trueman H.
He was one of the organizers of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, and served as one of the directors.
Mr. Mitchell is a Mason, holding membership in the Live Oak Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise a member of the Athenian Club and the Nile Club and has served as one of the directors. In social connections he has gained many friends, while in his business and official life he has won the high regard, confidence and good-will of his colleagues and associates.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 324
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
NEAL J. McKEON.
Neal J. McKeon, a well known and successful citizen of Oakland, has been engaged in the real-estate business for the past six years and prior to that time served as secretary and manager of the Oakland Title & Abstract Company, a concern which he organized. He was born in San Francisco in August, 1872, and acquired his more advanced education in Christian Brothers College of Sacramento. After leaving that institution he came to Oakland and in the capacity of office boy entered the employ of the abstract and title firm known as the Gustave L. Mix Company. Promotion came to him as he demonstrated his ability in the discharge of the duties intrusted to him, so that he filled positions of greater and greater importance and eventually acquired control of the business.
In March, 1906, he organized the Oakland Title & Abstract Company, which was formed by the consolidation of a number of similar companies that had been in operation for from twenty to fifty years in this locality. The concern was capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars, and the following officers were installed: Charles E. Palmer, president; James P. Edoff, vice president; Neal J. McKeon, secretary and manager; and Arthur H. Breed, treasurer. In a local publication the company was mentioned as follows: "They are equipped for the most complete work in their line, having a complete set of books of all records of Alameda county in their office, and have proven themselves thoroughly in touch with all modern methods, system and despatch in conducting their work. The company is regarded not only as the oldest and the most thoroughly reliable in Alameda county, in all its dealings, but enjoys public approval also for promptness and despatch with which orders are executed." On the 19th of March, 1908, Mr. McKeon disposed of his interest in that concern and embarked in the real-estate business, in which he has remained continuously to the present time with excellent success. Oakland has long numbered him among its most enterprising, prosperous and esteemed citizens.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 325
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
W. T. BAKER.
W. T. Baker is president of the W. T. Baker Company, a large concern engaged in the general painting and wallpapering business. Their patronage comes not alone from Oakland, but from all over the coast and the excellence of their work insures continued success. Mr. Baker is a native of Liverpool, England, born October 2, 1865. He attended the public schools of his native country until he reached the age of fourteen years and then went to sea. As a sailor he made the trip around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he arrived in 1880. In that year he was apprenticed to the painter's trade in Berkeley under William Lingard, with whom he remained until 1888, after which he came to Oakland. In this city he worked at his trade with various firms until 1890, when he engaged with W. W. Tucker & Company as a painter. He worked his way upward until he became vice president of the company in 1908, and in 1912 he sold his interest in that firm and formed what is now the W. T. Baker Company, of which he is the president. In March, 1913, they took over the business of W. W. Tucker & Company and are now controlling an extensive trade.
Mr. Baker was married in Oakland to Miss Annie Young, of Virginia City, Nevada, on the 12th of November, 1891, and they have a pleasant home in Oakland, where warm friendship is accorded them by many who knew them. Mr. Baker has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the United States, for in this country he found the opportunities which he sought and which, by the way, are always open to ambitious, energetic young men. He worked diligently to acquaint himself with the business in which he is now successfully engaged, and as the years have gone by he has worked his way steadily upward in this connection until he is now at the head of one of the foremost enterprises of the kind on the coast.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 326
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler