William Chapman Ralston (January 12, 1826 – August 27, 1875) was a San Francisco businessman and financier, and the founder of the Bank of California.

Early life

William Chapman Ralston was born at Wellsville, Ohio, son of Robert Ralston III and Mary Wilcoxen Chapman. He was known as "Chap" when he was young.

Ralston grew up with three younger brothers:Woodburn Ralston, Andrew Jackson Ralston, and James Alpheus Ralston. His mother died around 1835, after the birth of James. Robert Ralston remarried the next year, and William grew up with three half siblings.

His father started as a keel boat trader on the Ohio River and Mississippi River. Having constructed his own keel boats, he later applied his mechanical skill to building river steamboats, at which time he withdrew from river trading and operated his shipyard full-time.

thumb|left|250px|The 1875 Palace Hotel

thumb|left|250px|The April 1906 Palace Hotel Fire

His dream was the construction of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at the corner of New Montgomery and Market. The hotel opened on October 2, 1875. The hotel had early elevators or "rising rooms" and electric call buttons in the rooms. The hotel survived the 1906 earthquake but was destroyed in the fire that followed. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1909. off the main corridor to the left.

In 1871, following a severe drought in California, Ralston initiated work on the surveying for an irrigation scheme in the San Joaquin Valley, and his lobbying was successful in securing the passage through Congress in 1873 of an act to set up a Water Commission to advise on the irrigation of California.

Ralston was a possible co-conspirator in the Great Diamond Hoax.

Collapse of his financial empire

In 1875, his financial empire collapsed as a result of the combination of the expense of building the Palace Hotel, the failure of his attempt to buy and then resell the Spring Valley Water Company, the after-effects of the Panic of 1873, and a crash in the stock value of the Bank of California. The crash occurred just weeks before the opening of the Palace Hotel.

Personal life

In 1858, he married 21-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fry (born Elizabeth Red, in Illinois, 1837–1929), the niece and adopted daughter of Colonel (by courtesy) John D. Fry, who had been sheriff of Greene County, Illinois, and a member of the Illinois General Assembly, before moving to California in 1849 with William Sharon and was associated with Ralston in various businesses. They had four children together.

Ralston built Ralston Hall in Belmont, California, as a summer home; however his wife Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fry and their four children lived there all year round. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it became part of the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University. and later moved to Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. In 1941, there was a memorial erected in his honor on the Marina Green in San Francisco.

References

  • Eadweard Muybridge, photographer.
  • The virtual museum of the city of San Francisco