William Leidesdorff
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William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. (born October 23, 1810 on St.Croix, Virgin Islands, died May 18, 1848 in San Francisco) was one of the earliest settlers in California. His father Wilhelm Leidesdorff, a Danish citizen, was of the Jewish community of Altona, Schleswig-Holstein, a Danish domain near the city of Hamburg and was a merchant, sugar factor and farmer. His mother Marie Anne Spark was a African woman of mixed Spanish heritage, thought born in Cuba. In census records, Marie Anne Spark was classified Carib Indian.
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[edit] Early life
While little is known about his early life, William Leidesdorff left his home when about fifteen years of age. The child of a Danish father, it's assumed that his mother was of African Ancestry, a Carib woman named Anna Marie Sparks, though there is no proof of her race, other than a census report listing her as such. Since there is no image of his mother, her identity as "Black" or Carib is questionable other than primary source documentation including Captain Folsom, considering that Carib people are of various hues ranging from dark brown to lighter shades of brown, at the time of Leidesdorff's birth, resulting in a Virgin Islands Creole, of which his mother could have belonged. According to Pioneers of Negro Origin in California by Sue Bailey Thurman (San Francisco : Acme Pub. Co., ©1952):
Critical to the above beliefs, Anna Marie Sparks was prohibited from testifying in 1854 California Court, Negro testimony was banned. All notion of early Mexican California blended many ethnic cultures. Business productivity was possible for all and the largest financial estate in 1850's California was unable to be retained by the Leidesdorff family. This seems to be a salient aspect of race and culture during California statehood when the official California Constitution applied only to "white men."
"With the name of William Alexander Leidesdorff, we begin the documentary history of pioneers of Negro origin in California." [1]
After leaving St. Croix, Virgin Islands, he went to New York, and then to New Orleans to work in a cotton enterprise, where he held posts with firms associated with his father or perhaps his adopted mentors, and achieved the office of "captain of the port." What is documented with primary source documentation are ship manifests of his voyages as captain, 1834-1840 operating out of the Port of New Orleans and the Negro Seamen Acts that facilitated his relocation to the Pacific Rim. He utilized a schooner, the Julia Ann, and arrived at Yerba Buena (later San Francisco)in 1840.
[edit] In San Francisco
On arriving at Yerba Buena he began the establishment of extensive commercial relations throughout Hawaii†, Alaska and Mexico. When the American flag was raised over San Francisco (July, 1846) the U.S. Declaration of Independence was read for the first time in California at his home residence. He bore a high reputation for integrity and enterprise. He is said to have been "liberal, hospitable, cordial, confiding even to a fault." Leidesdorff became the wealthiest man in California. During the eight years of his residence there he organized the first American public school, served as a member of the Ayuntamiento, as one of the six aldermen, or town-councilors, and as city treasurer.
Although he adhered to his mother's Roman Catholic faith[citation needed], he was never a communicant in any church. Some of his intimates claimed to have known that he was of Jewish extraction[citation needed]. He is said to have been a man of fine appearance, "swarthy" (Dark complexion), and of an irascible temperament[citation needed]. He never spoke directly with his relatives, however as the eldest son with ways and means, the Leidesdorff family in St. Croix maintained their high standard of living. Leidesdorff never married; while conducting a great business and commerce in early U.S. annexed, Alta Mexican California, according to John C. Fremont, Leidesdorff lived with a Russian women as wife until his untimely death[citation needed].
Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. died May 1848. On the day of his burial the town was in mourning, the flags were at half-mast, business was suspended, and the schools were closed. His remains were interred inside Mission San Francisco de AsÃs just inside the front entrance and to the right Mission Dolores.
[edit] In memoriam
Leidesdorff Street in San Francisco, CA was named for him. Leidesdorff Street in Folsom, CA was named for him and 15 miles of U.S. Highway 50 was dedicated the William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. Memorial Highway along Historic Leidesdorff Ranch, his 35,000 acre cattle and wheat agribusiness along the southern banks of the American River Parkway, Sacramento County. An ongoing effort to restore Historic Leidesdorff Ranch met stiff resistance by Sacramento County residents whom refuse to acknowledge the authentic physical location of early Black contributions to Gold Rush Califorina. Historical amnesia and cultural homicide is the practice on full display, the Sacramento County Parks Commission continues to refuse to acknowledge the historical significance of the Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr., first African American Diplomat in United States History.
[edit] Leidesdorff estate
The California pioneer died intestate, and the court appointed Captain Joseph Libbey Folsom temporary administrator of his large estate, in 1854 valued at well over one million dollars, not including the gold extracted from his vast holdings along the American River. A native of New Hampshire and veteran of the U.S. Army, as well as former Customs Collector and Harbor Master for San Francisco in 1848, Folsom was very familiar with William Leidesdorff's vast holdings and his family in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. His leave of absence from his military duties to secure the rights to the Leidesdorff estate remains a unique story to be told.[1][2]
In 1849, with the California Gold Rush gathering steam, Folsom left the U.S. Army and embarked on a journey to St. Croix, where he located some of Leidesdorff's relatives, including his mother. For the sum of $75,000, Folsom purchased from Anna Spark her share of her son's estate, including Leidesdorff's extensive real estate holdings in San Francisco as well as the 35,000-acre-plus Rancho Rio de los Americanos ranch near Sacramento. Leidesdorff's extended family had no standing in California courts because California laws prohibited the testimony of people of African-American ancestry. The uncertainty of the probate laws, combined with the fact that William Leidesdorff, though he had held federal offices, held dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, further complicated things. In retrospect, it appears that Joseph Folsom, whose taste for the high life was well known (his early San Francisco residence boasted fancy plumbing and an elaborate garden) from the Leidesdorff estate, was ripe for the picking.[3]
Leidesdorff's West Indian relatives, mother and siblings, challenged title to Captain Folsom when an accurate evaluation of the estate was known, which the courts could not approve, the large value and reach of the estate created so much confusion that, in 1854, Governor Bigler, in a special message to the senate, recommended the escheat of the estate, then worth a million and a half, and suggested that proceedings be commenced for its recovery (Journal of the Senate of California, 1854). Another reason why the courts refused to admit the title of the West Indian relatives was that there were "other heirs, who had never conveyed away their rights in the estate" (Sweasy, Early Days and Men of California). These "other heirs" still lived in Europe at Altoona, Copenhagen and in the Caribbean Islands.
The following facts appear in connection with his estate: (1) The claims of his West Indian "relatives" were thrown out of court, the relevance of their evidence of relationship being summarily rejected. (2) No Danish family of the name of Leidesdorff ever appeared to claim the estate of William Leidesdorff of San Francisco. Though other "non Black" members of the family of the name lived on St. Croix well after his death.(3) The statute of limitations covers and protects every title obtained from Joseph L. Folsom and others who acquired possession.
