Although little known today, the name of William Alexander Leidesdorff is enshrined on streets in San Francisco and a town along the American River. He was also one of California’s pioneers of African descent and instrumental in bringing about the American annexation of California.
Much of the information that we have about William Leidesdorff’s biography comes from the historian Hubert Howe Bancroft. In his History of California, Bancroft mentions Leidesdorff several times as a key contributor to the state's early history.
Leidesdorff was born in 1810 in San Croix in the Virgin Islands, which were at the time known as the Danish West Indies. His father was a Danish sugar planter, William Leidesdorff, Senior. His mother, Anna Marie Sparks, a was a native woman of African descent.
We know little about his early life. According to Bancroft, at the age of 30 or 31, young William made his way to Alta California. He was a very astute businessman. Thanks to his facility with multiple languages, was liked and respected by both Mexicans and Anglo-Americans.
In 1844, he became a Mexican citizen. He obtained a grant of land, which he named Rancho Rio de los Americanos. The grant was for approximately 35,000 acres, on what is today the American River near Sacramento. His rancho was adjacent to the one owned by John Augustus Sutter.
Leidesdorff engaged in multiple business activities, including the hide and tallow trade, the basis of the rancho economy in Alta California.
Starting in 1845, he was asked to serve as the US Vice Consul to Mexico. The consul was a man named Thomas Oliver Larkin, who had a great interest in bringing California into the United States. Larkin saw Leidesdorff as an excellent ally in his efforts.
Thanks to his business success, Leidesdorff became one of the main financiers of Captain John Fremont and his men who helped support the U.S. annexation of California.
After the war, Leidesdorff wrote to the US government asking for reimbursement for the money that he put out to help support Fremont and his volunteers who came down into Alta California. It is fascinating to read his correspondence with the US government after the war. In it, Leidesdorff gives an eloquent accounting of the money he spent aiding Fremont, for which he expected the U.S. government to reimburse him. Leidesdorff was unsuccessful, and the U.S. government never repaid him. Nevertheless, the letters reveal a great deal of facility and persuasiveness in English, which was not his native tongue.
Leidesdorff was a visionary in transportation. He launched the first steamboat to operate on both the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River. He purchased the 37-foot-long steamboat in Alaska and brought it down to California, demonstrating his resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit.
As an entrepreneur, Leidesdorff was one of the men who built San Francisco. He was not only one of the town’s most prominent businessmen, but he was a member of the city council, its treasurer, and a member of the school committee, taking an active part in local politics during his short life.
In addition to his civic involvement, Leidesdorff was instrumental in bringing entertainment to the newly formed state of California. He staged the state's first horse race near Mission Dolores in 1847, showcasing his dedication to providing cultural experiences for the people of San Francisco.
In 1848, William Leidesdorff contracted a deadly illness. Doctors described it as "brain fever," which may have been meningitis, scarlet fever, typhoid, fever, or encephalitis. On May 18th of that year, he died. He was only 38 years old. His body was buried at Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores) in San Francisco. Today both the city of San Francisco and the town of Folsom (where his land grant was located) have streets dedicated to him.
Had he lived longer, who knows what else William Alexander Leidesdorff might have accomplished?
In addition to his riches, Leidesdorff left many debts. Many of those were a result of his financing of businesses and other ventures like Fremont’s expeditions.
According to Sue Bailey Thurman, author of Pioneers of Negro Origin in California, at the time of his death, Leidesdorff’ ‘s property was saddled with $50,000 in debts. In today’s money that is almost $2 million.
The discovery of gold in 1848, the same year he died increased Leidesdorff’s property’s value immensely. Soon his estate was worth nearly a million dollars, approximately $37.5 million today’s dollars. But, unfortunately, Leidesdorff was never able to enjoy it.
The value of his estate attracted attention after he died.
One of those interested was a U.S. Army infantry captain named Joseph Libby Folsom.
Folsom saw California as a place of massive potential. “Any person who could come in here now with ready cash, would be certain of doubling his money in a few months. Large fortunes will be made here within the ensuing year…”
Folsom was willing to make risky bets on that potential, and Leidesforff’s property was to be the key.
Folsom knew Leidesdorff when he was the customs collector of the Port of San Francisco. Folsom had purchased some property from Leidesdorff before his death. Now he recognized an opportunity to expand his holdings.
Folsom’s goal was to see if he could acquire Leidesdorff’s estate, notably his rancho on the American River. When he discovered that Leidesdorff had died without heirs, he traveled to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. There, he found William’s mother, Anna. The officer convinced Anna to accept $75,000 for the title to her son’s property. At the time, the sum was worth approximately $3 million in today’s dollars.
Thanks to the increase in land values after the Gold Rush, Folsom soon became a wealthy man, at least on paper. He wound up developing the land on the American River, making plans for a town he called “Granite City.” He he had the town laid out in 1855.
With his newfound wealth, Folsom found that keeping it was as challenging as acquiring it. Like the Californios, who had received land grants before the war with the U.S., Folsom had to fight to keep his land. He had to protect his rancho from squatters, and to borrow money to defend against constant legal challenges.
It could be that all these struggles took a toll on Folsom’s health. In 1855, he died suddenly. He was visiting friends in Mission San José, today’s City of Fremont, named after the man Leidesdorff had gone into debt to finance.
Folsom was 38 years old, the same age as William Alexander Leidesdorff when he died a few years earlier. Like Leidesdorff, he was never able to enjoy the fruits of his land in gold country.
Even so, a month after Folsom’s death, he won his legal battles. The U.S. Land Commission confirmed his title to Leidesdorff’s Rancho Río de los Americanos.
To honor the ill-fated Army captain, local officials renamed Granite City “Folsom.” The town still bears his name.
Despite the Land Commission’s ruling, many still question Folsom’s dealings with Leidesdorff’s mother. Was he ethical? Did he take advantage of her? Opinion is divided.
Even so, some historians have come to Folsom’s defense.
Herb Puffer, the owner of Pacific Western Traders in Folsom, California, one of the first Native American art stores in Northern California, devoted decades to researching Captain Folsom’s history. He believed history had been too hard on Folsom.
“$75,000 was a lot of money at that time and a lot of the estate was up in the air,” says Puffer. “No one knew if the Rancho (which included the future town of Folsom) would even be part of the estate settlement…Maybe the accusations surrounding Folsom’s dealings with Leidesdorff’s heirs came from people who were jealous that they didn’t have the courage to take a chance like Folsom.”
Whatever the case may be, struggles over land have always been part of the California frontier.