Alameda County
Biographies
JOHN R. PALMER
John R. Palmer, an attorney at Pleasanton, is one of the prominent citizens of Amador Valley. He dates his birth March 15, 1836, at Bedford County, Pennsylvania, where he was reared and educated. He learned the trade of tanner and currier, following it from the age of fourteen to twenty years; and from 1856 to 1861 he was engaged in several callings, - teaching school a few years, photographing, etc., and drifted into the study of law, reading Blackstone and other great legal authorities. He was admitted to the bar in his native State; in 1861, he was elected District Attorney for three years, and in 1864 re-elected. After the expiration of his last term, in May, 1867, he bade farewell to friends and associates, and came by steamer by way of Panama to San Francisco. In a short time he went to Black Rock, Nevada, where he followed mining and prospecting for a time; then, returning to San Francisco, he was engaged in handling various publications for a few months, and in 1868 he located in Pleasanton, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, having had many noted lawsuits in regard to land claims. He has also been Notary Public since 1870. He is a gentleman of literary ability, having been on the local staff of several prominent journals; was local editor of the Bedford “Gazette”, in his native State, from 1861 to 1867. He is still unmarried.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, July 2004.
SOURCE: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 298.
H. H. PITCHER
& THE BANK OF LIVERMORE
The Bank of Livermore. – This solid financial institution, which has proven so beneficial in this valley, was opened for business as a private institution on the 13th of March, 1885, and on the 11th of December, 1885, was incorporated under the laws of California. The board of directors, consisting of all the stockholders, was as follows: Thomas Varney, H. H. Pitcher, G. W. Langan, John Taylor and T. H. B. Varney. The first officers were: Thomas Varney, President; H. H. Pitcher, Cashier, and G. W. Langan, Attorney. After the death of Thomas Varney, which occurred February 13, 1890, T. H. B. Varney became President, and John Taylor Vice-President. The bank, which has a paid-up capital of $100,000, handles practically all the business of the Livermore Valley. The bank has been a success from the start, and the volume of its business is constantly on the increase.
H. H. Pitcher, the able cashier of the Bank of Livermore, is a native of Sacramento, born August 16, 1850, his parents being E. M. and Jane H. (Hay) Pitcher, the former a native of New York, and the latter of London, England. Both came out to California at the same time with Strowbridge, and, becoming acquainted on the steamer, were married after their arrival in California. Mr. Pitcher, Sr., was for a time in the cattle business, but afterward conducted a hotel in the country a short distance from Sacramento. He also engaged quite extensively in dealing in fine horses, and imported some of the first fine stock ever brought to California. Among these was the noted John Nelson, which was a famous animal. He was also for a time in the mercantile business in Sacramento, in connection with Mr. Strowbridge. His death occurred in Sacramento County, in 1863.
H. H. Pitcher, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Sacramento, and there received his education. When but eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Treadwell & Co., a large mercantile firm there, as book-keeper. That firm became insolvent, and their creditors, the Bank of California, took their stores and placed Mr. Pitcher in charge of the business at Sacramento to close. He closed the business there about two years later, and so well pleased were the bank officials with the work of the young man that they made him a favorable offer to enter the Bank of California in San Francisco, which he accepted, continuing there until starting in the Bank of California in 1885.
Besides his banking interests, Mr. Pitcher is largely interested in the chrome iron trade, he and Mr. Knight, of San Francisco, handling in partnership nearly all of the product on this coast, and shipping most of the ore to the Kalion Chemical Works, Philadelphia. Mr. Pitcher has a fine ranch of 500 acres in El Dorado County, not far from Placerville, which his is planting largely to fruit, to which the land is specially adapted.
Mr. Pitcher was married in San Francisco, February 3, 1872, to Miss Annie G. Clark, a native of San Francisco, and daughter of Reuben Clark, the leading architect of the State Capitol at Sacramento. They have two children, viz.: Pearl F. and Hazel Belle.
Mr. Pitcher is a member of Masonic Lodge, F. & A. M., and Doric Chapter, R. A. M., of Livermore; and of Golden Gate Commandery, Knights Templar, and Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine, San Francisco. Mr. Pitcher is a Republican politically. He was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Livermore in May, 1889, and was chosen president of the board. In May, 1890, he was re-elected.
Mr. Pitcher is a high-toned, honorable gentleman, of rare business qualifications, and is indeed a valuable acquisition to Livermore and its surrounding valley.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, July 2004.
SOURCE: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 307-308.