Celebrating the African Founding Father of California at our Farm to Fork Friday

Reprinted from Molly Dugan
Published Sunday, December 7, 2003

He was a debonair seafarer who became a business and civic leader in San Francisco, where he threw parties for high society in the 1840s.

He led U.S. troops to secure the Presidio against Mexican forces and once served as vice consul to Mexico, becoming the first African American diplomat.

He owned 35,000 acres in what is now Rancho Cordova and Folsom, and he gave money and land for the state's first public school, which was in San Francisco.

Nevertheless, many Californians have never heard of William Alexander Leidesdorff Jr. But action by the Legislature could change that -- at least for the thousands of Highway 50 commuters who drive past his former land holdings daily.

The Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution naming a 15-mile stretch of the freeway from Bradshaw Road to the eastern Sacramento County line for Leidesdorff. The measure is pending in the state Senate.

Michael Harris, director of the Black Sacramento Cultural Center, pushed for the tribute in an effort to teach people more about African American pioneers, who often are left out of the history books, he said.

"There (are) very few things that honor early African American pioneers," Harris said. "Here's a man who owned all that land and most people have never heard of him."

In Folsom, the plaza on Sutter Street and a residential road are named for Leidesdorff. A plaque at his burial site and a small street with his name honor him in San Francisco.

State Librarian Kevin Starr said Leidesdorff resonates with African Americans today because he was sophisticated, educated and oozing with charisma. He spoke several languages fluently and mingled among dockworkers and power brokers with equal ease.

"He was not a man on the margins. This was a man at the center," Starr said. "He was one of the state founders with a capital 'F.' "

Leidesdorff proved that the color line in early California was not as impenetrable as some might think, said Starr, who is also a professor at the University of Southern California.

"His ancestry didn't prove a problem," Starr said. "He seemed to be able to live in the larger white world. There are many people in the mid-19th century who moved in various worlds."

Not everyone welcomed Leidesdorff, the son of a white Dutch planter and black woman, who was born in 1810 on the island of St. Croix in what is now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to legend, he fell in love with a woman whose family refused to bless their relationship because he was of mixed ancestry. He never married.

Instead, Leidesdorff, who earned a fortune through cotton speculation in the South before moving to New York, launched a seafaring career. In 1841 he sailed to San Francisco, where he owned a general store and opened the city's first hotel.

He joined the City Council, serving as treasurer. A prominent businessman and city official, he hosted parties for San Francisco society leaders in his home.

Leidesdorff also is credited with commanding the first steamship voyage on the West Coast, traveling from San Francisco Bay up the Sacramento and American rivers. The vessel, named the Sitka, may have been the inspiration for the one pictured on the state seal.

In 1844, Leidesdorff acquired a massive land grant from Mexico in what is now Rancho Cordova and Folsom. He operated the land as a wheat farm and cattle ranch for a few years until his death. He was $60,000 in debt when in 1848 he died mysteriously at age 38.

After his death, Leidesdorff's mother sold the rights to the land to Joseph Folsom for $75,000. A few months later, pioneers discovered gold in the region, raising the value of Leidesdorff's former land holdings to $1.5 million.

Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks, who introduced the resolution honoring Leidesdorff, said naming a stretch of Highway 50 for him is a "small token of appreciation" for his contributions.

"It's important that we honor people who made something of their lives," Cox said.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, who co-wrote the resolution, said honoring Leidesdorff is one way to begin recognizing California pioneers of different races and backgrounds.

"Every time we rename something for a historical figure, it's an opportunity to teach," said Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "These stories should be told. Too often, they're not told."