Charles Crocker
Charles Crocker was a prominent American businessman and one of the key figures behind the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, which played a vital role in the establishment of the transcontinental railroad in the United States. Born in upstate New York to a middle-class family, Crocker had limited formal education and started working at a young age. He moved to California during the Gold Rush, where he initially struggled as a miner but later prospered by selling supplies to fellow miners.
Crocker eventually became one of the wealthiest men in Sacramento and partnered with other influential figures, such as Leland Stanford and Collis P. Huntington, to create the Central Pacific Railroad in 1861. His wealth grew substantially through railroading and subsequent investments in real estate and irrigation projects, particularly in California. Despite his financial success, Crocker faced criticism for alleged fraudulent practices in acquiring his wealth and was associated with monopolistic behavior through the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Crocker’s legacy is complex; he left behind a significant fortune but was not known for philanthropy, contributing to the "robber baron" image of American entrepreneurship during the late 19th century. He passed away in 1888, leaving a notable impact on California's economy and development.
Charles Crocker
- Born: September 16, 1822
- Birthplace: Troy, New York
- Died: August 14, 1888
- Place of death: Monterey, California
American railroad magnate, financier, and real estate developer
Crocker’s wealth was derived primarily from his investment in Central Pacific Railroad’s construction of a portion of the first transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869. In later years, he became a major financier and real estate developer in California.
Sources of wealth: Railroads; real estate
Bequeathal of wealth: Spouse; children
Early Life
Charles Crocker was born to a middle-class farm family in upstate New York. When he was fourteen, his family moved to a farm in Marshall County, Indiana. Crocker had little formal education because he dropped out of school to help support his family. He worked as a farm laborer, in a sawmill, and in an iron forge. He later said that his experiences in supervising work crews in these early jobs were a key to his success in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad.
First Ventures
In 1845, Crocker established his own iron forge, but he sold this firm in 1849 and went to California to mine for gold. After two years of mining with little success, Crocker went into business selling supplies to miners. By 1854, he had become one of the wealthiest men in Sacramento, where he became acquainted with the other men who would form the leadership of the Central Pacific Railroad—Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, and Mark Hopkins. In 1861, these men, who came to be known as the Big Four, invested $24,000 to establish the Central Pacific Railroad. The following year, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act, which chartered the new Union Pacific Railroad to build the eastern end of a new transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific was given the contract to build the western end of this line.
Mature Wealth
It was railroading that made Crocker truly wealthy, and he later invested that wealth in a variety of other business ventures. The directors of the Central Pacific Railroad contracted with a separate firm that Crocker had formed to do the actual construction of the rail line. What many people did not know at the time was that many of the directors of the railroad were also investors in this construction company, so they were essentially paying themselves for building their own railroad.
After the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, Crocker remained affiliated with the Central Pacific but also began investing in other ventures, especially in California real estate. He was a prominent backer of some of the large-scale irrigation projects that turned the San Joaquin Valley into a major agricultural center. In 1871, Crocker became president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and in 1884 he oversaw the merger of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific, creating one of the largest western rail lines. Crocker also became a major regional financier.
Crocker built a magnificent mansion in the Nob Hill section of San Francisco and had a second home in New York City. He was badly injured in a carriage accident in New York City in 1886, and he never fully recovered. He died in 1888 at a new resort hotel that the Southern Pacific Railroad had built at his urging in Monterey, California.
Legacy
Crocker’s legacy was a mixed one. He left a tremendous fortune to his family, estimated at $20 to $40 million, and his wealth contributed to the rapid development of the economy of California in the late 1800’s. However, there were many charges of fraud concerning how he acquired this wealth, and the Southern Pacific Railroad, which its opponents dubbed the Octopus, was accused of monopolistic practices. Unlike many industrialists who made philanthropic gifts out of a sense of either gratitude or duty, or at least to forestall public criticism of their great wealth, Crocker gave virtually nothing to charity either during his life or in bequests after his death. His career contributed significantly to the creation of the “robber baron” image of American businessmen.
Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Josephson, Matthew. The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1934. Reprint. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1961.
Lewis, Oscar. The Big Four: The Story of Huntington, Stanford, Hopkins, and Crocker. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938.