Stanford, Leland
merchant, governor, United States senator, was born March 9, 1824, in Watervliet, N. Y. In 1856 he moved to San Francisco to engage in mercantile pursuits on a large scale. He was a delegate to the republican national convention in 1860, and in 1861-63 was governor of California. As president of the Central Pacific Railroad company he superintended its construction over the mountains, building 530 miles of it in 293 days. He became interested in other railroads on the Pacific slope, in agriculture, and in manufactures.
In 1885 he was elected United States senator from California for the term of six years from March 4, 1886; and received the re-election in 1890. He died June 21, 1893, in Palo Alto, Cal.