William "Billy" Chapman Ralston (January 12, 1826 – August 27, 1875) was a San Francisco businessman and

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

, and the founder of the

Bank of California The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston and Darius Ogden Mills. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, the second-richest bank in the nation, and consid ...

Biography

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. With riches derived from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the Unit ...

, he became one of the richest and most powerful men in California. He founded the

and was known for having a nothing-is-impossible attitude.

Projects

He built

Ralston Hall Ralston Hall Mansion located in Belmont, California, was the country house of William Chapman Ralston, a San Francisco businessman, a founder of the Bank of California, and a financier of the Comstock Lode. It is an opulent Italianate Villa, mo ...

Belmont, California Belmont is a city in San Mateo County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the San Francisco Peninsula about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. Known for its wooded hills, views of the San Franci ...

, 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, it is now part of the campus of

Notre Dame de Namur University Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the ...

. He built the California Theatre on Bush Street in San Francisco, which opened on January 18, 1869. Palace Hotel 1887

His dream was the construction of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco at the corner of New Montgomery and Market. He spent $5M on its construction, draining his banking empire in the process. John Painter Gaynor was the architect and had been instructed by Ralston to study European luxury hotels for inspiration. 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. There is still a Ralston Room in the hotel, off the main corridor to the left. In 1871, following a severe drought in California, he initiated work on the surveying for an irrigation scheme in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, 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 Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

of California. He was also involved in Philip Arnold's diamond-mining hoax of 1872.

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 San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is a public agency of the City and County of San Francisco that provides water, wastewater, and electric power services to the city and an additional 1.9 million customers within three San Franc ...

, the after-effects of the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the ...

, and a crash in the stock value of the Bank of California. The crash occurred just weeks before the opening of the Palace Hotel.Smith, G.H., 1943, The History of the Comstock Lode, 1850–1997, Reno: University of Nevada Press,

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 Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it has a population of 11,843. Its county seat is Carrollton. A notable archaeological area, the Koster Site, has produced evidence o ...

, and a member of the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

, before moving to California in 1849 with William Sharon and was associated with Ralston in various businesses. They had four children together.

Death and legacy

The day after the collapse, his body was found in the San Francisco Bay on August 27, 1875. He was the victim of either a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

during his regular swim, or

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

. About 50,000 people were said to have watched his funeral procession, and 8,000 of his friends were said by Robert Brereton to have attended the public meeting held in Union Hall on September 8, 1875 to express the community's loss. His partner, U.S. Senator William Sharon, acquired many of his assets, including the Palace Hotel and Ralston Hall. He was buried at

Lone Mountain Cemetery Lone Mountain Cemetery was a complex of cemeteries in the Lone Mountain neighborhood of San Francisco, California on the land bounded by the present-day California Street, Geary Boulevard, Parker Avenue, and Presidio Avenue. Opened 1854, it eve ...

(which had recently been renamed Laurel Hill Cemetery) in San Francisco, and later moved to

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several memb ...

in Colma.

Namesakes

Ralston Avenue is one of the principal roads in Belmont, California. Ralston Street in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

, Nevada is named for William Ralston. There are Ralston Avenue exits from both Highway 92 and

Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...

. Ralston Middle School,

, and the William Chapman Ralston Award are all named for him. A small mining town in southwest New Mexico was named Ralston City in honor of William Ralston, its largest investor, but has since been renamed

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. A very small (pop. 70) town in Iowa is named Ralston. Ralston Lane in Redondo Beach,CA, 90278. is named for him. The town of

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

was to be named for Ralston; he declined, however, and it was called Modesto as one of the Spanish-speaking workers at the naming ceremony for that town said he was "''muy modesto''" or very modest. Modesto is home to Ralston Tower, an 11-floor building for the elderly. It is the second-tallest building in the city.

Popular culture

Ralston was portrayed by

Ronald W. Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

in a 1965 episode of ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', "Raid on the San Francisco Mint." The episode dramatizes an 1869 event in which Ralston gets the head of the mint drunk in order to persuade him to authorize an exchange of bullion for coins.

Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High Sch ...

was cast as financier and adventurer Asbury Harpending. In a 1968 ''Death Valley Days'' episode, "The Great Diamond Mines", narrated by Robert Taylor, the role of Ralston was played by

Tod Andrews Tod Andrews (born Theodore Edwin Anderson; November 9, 1914 – November 7, 1972) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Early years Tod Andrews was born as Theodore Edwin Anderson in El Paso, Texas, to Henry Anderson and Lydia ...

, who is deceived by two prospectors who claim to have a functioning diamond mine in the desert.

References

External links

ThePalaceHotel.org (An online illustrated history of the Palace Hotel.)

Photographs of W.C. Ralston and His Mansion in Belmont, Calif., 1872–1874
taken by

Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...

, from

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

Guide to the William Chapman Ralston Correspondence
at

The William Chapman Ralston Award

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, William Chapman 1826 births 1875 deaths People from Wellsville, Ohio Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area American bankers American company founders 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (San Francisco)