Person:Frederick Low (1)

Governor of California 1863-1869. US Representative from California 1862-63. US Minister to China 1869.

"Frederick Low, born in Maine in 1828, worked in a mercantile house and educated himself by attending lectures at the Lowell Institute and Fanueil Hall in Boston. Gold lured him to California, where in a few short months (later described as the best time of his life) he unearthed $1,500 in gold enough to set up a business in San Francisco. He prospered there as well, eventually co-owning the California Steam Navigation Company (a large river navigation company). A Unionist republican, he served in Congress and as Collector for the Port of San Francisco. As Governor, he encouraged a state university, and some consider him the founder of the University of California. Looking back on his term of office, Low once said, "There's not much chance to display one's ability in the governor's office of this state, even if you be brilliant."

The Governors of California and their Portraits

"Frederick F. Low, just elected Governor of California by the Union Party, by a majority of some 20,000 votes, is a native of Winterport, Me. He is about thirty-five years old. At the age of twenty-one, he emigrated to California, where he has been engaged in the banking business." - Chicago Tribune 15 September 1863

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Frederick Low.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Http://www.governor.ca.gov/govsite/govsgallery/h/biography/governor 9.html.