Contra Costa County
Biographies
CARL HENRY BURG
was born in Sweden, January 19, 1866, and to him belongs the title of "self-made man." He is the son of John August and Augusta Burg, and was left an orphan at the age of fourteen, his mother having passed away in 1873 and his father in 1880. His early education was secured in the public schools of his native land. Starting out in life without experience or resources, he has through his own energy risen to be one of the leading real-estate men of the Bay counties, and is classed among the "pioneer builders" of Richmond. Emigrating to America in 1881, he located in Kansas, where he remained for a period of nine years, during the first two of which he engaged in farming and later in business along mercantile lines. In 1888 he moved to San Francisco, where he accepted a position as clerk in a dry-goods house, which he held for three years, at the same time continuing his studies at a business college. In 1892, going to Central America, he turned his attention to the development of a coffee plantation, securing nearly five hundred acres of land for this purpose. Disposing of his holdings he returned to the United States, settling in San Francisco, where he became actively engaged in the real-estate business. He was identified with the first subdivision in Richmond during its early days, and has since continued to be one of the leading operators in this section. The firm of Burg Brothers, consisting of Carl H. and Edward J. Burg, is among the largest and most important around the bay section, Burg Brothers having the distinction of being the largest real-estate operators in Richmond. In May, 1910, they placed upon the market the Central Richmond and Pullman Town-Site tracts, and by January, 1911, 1150 lots had been sold. The following March the Spaulding Richmond Pullman Town-site was placed upon the market, and by March 1, 1912, contracts for the sale of 1475 lots (practically the entire tract) had been issued, being the highest real-estate record ever made in Richmond. In 1912 they also developed and sold the Grand View Terrace tract, and in November of the same year purchased and put on the market the Nicholl Macdonald Avenue Civic Center tract, consisting of one hundred and ten acres, paying $725,000 for this property or nearly seven thousand dollars an acre. This is the highest price ever paid in the United States for a piece of undeveloped property of its size for subdivision purposes. Burg Brothers sold one fifty-foot corner in this tract for fifteen thousand dollars; fifteen years previously this land was offered for sale at seventy dollars per acre, while the fifty-foot corner is now valued at $23,000. Mr. Burg was among those who first recognized Richmond's wonderful opportunities, and, taking advantage of the same, made rapid progress in a business way, and his enterprising spirit brought him into important relations. He was one of the charter members of the Richmond Industrial Commission and is a member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. He was twice married, the first marriage being to Emily Brugge, and there was born of this union one daughter, Thelma A. Burg, April 4, 1900. The second marriage was to Mrs. Clara B. Gardner, July 14, 1913. Fraternally, Mr. Burg is a Mason, being a Knight Templar of California Commandery No. 1 and a Shriner. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the National Union. He is also a member of the Union League and Masonic clubs of San Francisco.
Source: "The History of Contra Costa County, California," Elms Publ. Co., 1918, pp. 455-456
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
BERNARD SCHAPIRO.
This history presents the record of no other citizen more thoroughly infused with the spirit of public progress than the subject of this review, Bernard Schapiro, and Contra Costa County numbers him among its representative citizens. Mr. Schapiro's life record may well serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished when determination and energy lead the way. Starting out in life with no capital, he has gradually advanced until now he is numbered among the largest real-estate operators in the Bay counties. Mr. Schapiro was born in Prussia, January 11, 1865, and is a son of Elias and Hannah Schapiro. He attended the public schools of his native land, and at the age of twenty-one he crossed the Atlantic to the New World, settling first at Philadelphia, where he found employment in a clock factory. He became identified with other pursuits and traveled throughout the Eastern States, after which he decided to cast his lot with the Golden West, and in 1892 he settled in San Francisco. For a time he was engaged in running an optical store, and in 1901 he worked for McEwen Brothers' real-estate firm, as salesman for one year. Mr. Schapiro then embarked in the real-estate business for himself, and one of his first ventures along this line was to act as selling agent for some of the officials of the Standard Oil Company in selling a tract of land they had placed on the market. He was one of the first operators in Richmond, and since 1901 Mr. Schapiro has subdivided and sold over two thousand acres in and around Richmond; besides this he has subdivided five thousand acres in the Sacramento Valley and five thousand in the San Joaquin Valley. These different colonies are in a very prosperous condition. He is connected fraternally with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Politically, Mr. Schapiro has always been a Republican. He was nominated from the fifth district of San Francisco as alternate to the Republican national convention held at Chicago in June, 1916. Mr. Schapiro was united in marriage November 3, 1895, to Miss Birdie Stern, a native of New York State. To this union have been born—Esmond, born October 19, 1896; Zara, born May 25, 1900; Dorothea, born October 4, 1905. All three children were born in San Francisco, California. Mr. Schapiro is identified as a stockholder in the bank at Pinole, the First National Bank of Richmond, the Merchants Bank of Richmond, and the California Trust Company of San Francisco. He is a life member of the Press Club of San Francisco, and holds membership in the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, and is a charter member of the Pioneer Club of Richmond, California. Mr. Schapiro deserves great credit for what he has accomplished in life, for he started out in the business world a poor boy, and by his energy, enterprise, and ambition has steadily worked his way upward to success. Mr. Schapiro is a resident of San Francisco, and maintains spacious offices in the Phelan Building. He has proved himself trustworthy and faithful in business, progressive in citizenship, and loyal to the claims of friendship, and he has thus commanded and kept the esteem and high regard of all who are associated with him.
Source: "The History of Contra Costa County, California," Elms Publ. Co., 1918, pp. 456-457
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.