Reuben Rickard (August 20, 1841 – February 24, 1896) was a

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

He married Mary Elizabeth Humphreys October 3, 1863. They had six children, three of whom died young. who served as President of the Town Board of Trustees in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

from 1891 to 1893, and again for about one month during 1895. Rickard was born on August 20, 1841, in England. Rickard was hired by John Taylor and Sons of London to oversee their mining and metallurgical operations in Pontgibaud, France in the 1860s. In 1875, the Rickard family emigrated to the United States as Reuben had been hired to manage the operations of the Richmond Mining Company in

Eureka, Nevada Eureka is an unincorporated town and census-designated places in and the county seat of Eureka County, Nevada, United States. Reprint. Originally published: San Francisco : H. Keller, 1879. With a population of 480 as of the 2018 American Commu ...

. He worked there six years before taking on another job inspecting mines for English investors throughout the western U.S. and Mexico. The family finally settled in Berkeley, California on July 24, 1882. Reuben's wife died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

on March 28, 1895, in Central City, Colorado. Reuben Rickard died February 24, 1896, of acute diarrhoea on board the steamer Bothwell Castle which was bound from

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

to Fremantle in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

where he was inspecting a mining project. Reuben was survived by three children, Thomas, Edgar and Leontine. Thomas Rickard also served as President of the Town Board of Trustees from 1903 to 1909.

Edgar Rickard Edgar Rickard (January 17, 1874 – January 21, 1951) was a mining engineer and lifelong confidant of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. Biography Family He was the son of mining engineer Reuben Rickard, and the brother of Thomas Rickard, a mining e ...

was a close lifelong friend of President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

. Leontine Rickard married William Bowditch Fisher on March 11, 1896, in Berkeley. Reuben had a brother Alfred Rickard who was also a mining engineer based in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and a nephew

Thomas Arthur Rickard T. A. Rickard (1864 – 1953), formally known as ''Thomas Arthur Rickard'' was born on 29 August 1864 in Italy. Rickard's parents were British, and he became a mining engineer practising in the United States, Europe and Australia. He was also ...

who was a prominent writer on the subject of mining.

References

American mining engineers Mayors of Berkeley, California 1841 births 1896 deaths British emigrants to the United States 19th-century American politicians Engineers from California {{California-mayor-stub