Leland Stanford
Railroad magnate, governor, senator, and founder of Stanford University.
Amasa Leland Stanford was born on March 9, 1824, in Watervliet, New York, and worked as a lawyer, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican politician. He was California’s eighth governor, serving from 1862 to 1863, and later represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1885 until his death in 1893. With his wife Jane, he founded Stanford University in memory of their son. After moving to California during the gold rush in 1852, Stanford built a fortune as a merchant and wholesaler. He became a powerful executive of the Central Pacific Railroad and later the Southern Pacific, holding those roles from 1861 to 1890, which gave him enormous influence across the Western United States and shaped California’s development. Stanford also held stakes and leadership positions in Pacific Life and Wells Fargo. He was California’s first Republican governor. Many historians classify him as a robber baron.
Stanford grew up on family farms in Watervliet, New York, one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. His siblings included New York State Senator Charles Stanford and Australian businessman Thomas Welton Stanford. His ancestor Thomas Stanford settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the 1600s, and later relatives moved to the eastern Mohawk Valley around 1720. His father, a farmer of some means, raised him on properties in the Lisha Kill and Roessleville areas. The family home in Roessleville, called Elm Grove, was torn down in the 1940s. Stanford attended common school until 1836, then was tutored at home until 1839. He studied at Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York, and pursued law at Cazenovia Seminary from 1841 to 1845. In 1845, he joined the Albany law firm Wheaton, Doolittle, and Hadley. After being admitted to the bar in 1848, he moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he started a law practice with Wesley Pierce. His father gave him a law library considered the finest north of Milwaukee. In 1850, the Whig Party nominated him as district attorney for Washington County, Wisconsin.
In 1852, after a fire destroyed his law library and other property, Stanford followed five brothers to California during the gold rush. His wife Jane briefly returned to Albany. He ran a general store for miners in Michigan City, California (later renamed Michigan Bluff in Placer County), and eventually operated a wholesale business.
Quick Facts
- Office
- United States Senator from California
- State
- California
- Term Start
- March 4, 1885
- Term End
- June 21, 1893
- Predecessor
- James T. Farley
- Successor
- George Clement Perkins
- Birth Name
- Amasa Leland Stanford
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Leland Stanford was born on March 9, 1824, in Watervliet, New York, one of eight children of Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. He attended common school, was tutored at home, studied at Clinton Liberal Institute and Cazenovia Seminary, and entered a law office in Albany. Admitted to the bar in 1848, he moved to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where he began a law practice. In 1850, he was nominated by the Whig Party as Washington County district attorney. After losing his law library and other property to a fire in 1852, he followed his brothers to California during the gold rush, becoming a merchant and wholesaler. He served as a justice of the peace and helped organize the Sacramento Library Association.
In 1856, Stanford moved to Sacramento and engaged in large-scale mercantile pursuits. He was one of the four merchants known as 'The Big Four' who were key investors in the Central Pacific Railroad, incorporated on June 28, 1861, with Stanford as its president. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1859 but won in 1861, serving from 1862 to 1863. Due to the Great Flood of 1862, he rowed to his inauguration. In 1868, he and his associates acquired control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and Stanford served as its president until 1890, when he was ousted by Collis Huntington. He presided at the driving of the 'Last Spike' at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. He also helped form the Pacific Union Express Company (merged with Wells Fargo in 1870) and started Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company (now Pacific Life), serving as its first president from 1868 to 1876.
Reader's Guide
Leland Stanford's significance lies in his central role in building the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad, which transformed transportation and commerce in the United States. As president of the Central Pacific and later the Southern Pacific railroads, he wielded immense economic and political power in the Western United States, a legacy that shaped California's development. His political career included serving as the first Republican governor of California and later as a U.S. Senator. Stanford's philanthropic legacy is most visible in Stanford University, founded with his wife Jane in memory of their son. He also contributed to scientific studies of horse gaits through photographer Eadweard Muybridge, resulting in proto-film. Despite these achievements, Stanford is widely considered a robber baron, reflecting the controversial nature of his business practices and the concentration of power he held. His life illustrates the intersection of industry, politics, and philanthropy in the Gilded Age.
Did You Know?
- Stanford had to row to his own inauguration as governor due to the Great Flood of 1862.
- He commissioned Eadweard Muybridge to study horse gaits, leading to the proto-film 'Sallie Gardner at a Gallop' (1878).
- Stanford owned the Great Vina Ranch in Tehama County, which contained what was then the largest vineyard in the world at 3,575 acres.
- The Central Pacific's first locomotive, named 'Gov. Stanford' in his honor, is preserved at the California State Railroad Museum.
More in Tycoons And Industrialists 1-20
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced