William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. was born on October 23, 1810 on St. Croix when it was under Danish rule (it is now part of the US Virgin Islands). His father, who operated a sugar plantation, was of Danish and Jewish ancestry. His mother was of African and Spanish ancestry. Leidesdorff Jr. moved to New Orleans and became a naturalized US citizen in 1834. From 1834-1840 he worked as a ship captain out of the Port of New Orleans (he was the last Black ship captain to work out of Louisiana before the state passed the Negro Seaman Act prohibiting Black captains and officers).
In 1841 Leidesdorff traveled to New York and purchased a schooner named Julia Ann which he sailed around Cape Horn, landing in Yerba Buena (San Francisco’s name under Mexican rule). When he arrived, there were 30 Mexican and European families living in the small hamlet. He owned and operated a thriving general store and made his fortune importing and exporting goods between California, Mexico and Hawaii. In 1844 he became a Mexican citizen and was granted 35,000 acres of land south of the American River near Sacramento. A year later he was appointed US Vice Consul to Mexico by US Consul Thomas O. Larkin (under President James Polk), becoming the first US Black diplomat.
Leidesdorff’s import/export enterprise made him one of the wealthiest men in California and the first Black millionaire. During his eight years in Yerba Buena/San Francisco Leidesdorff changed it from a small hamlet to a developing township. He commissioned the first steamboat which he captained in the San Francisco Bay and up the Sacramento River. He built the City’s first hotel at the corner of Clay and Kearny, aptly named City Hotel. He built the first commercial shipping warehouse, ship yard and lumber yard. He was one of six Aldermen in Yerba Buena and when Yerba Buena became part of the Union in 1846, Leidesdorff was appointed as one of three members to the City’s first School Board. He established the first public school on land that he donated on Portsmouth Square (a plaque stands at the site today). He was elected City Treasurer.
His house, located at the corner of California and Montgomery, was the largest residence in the City and was the only home in the area to have a flower garden. He was a lavish entertainer, often hosting parties for visiting dignitaries and businessmen. Shortly before his death, gold was found on his estate in Sacramento.
Leidesdorff died unexpectedly from typhoid fever on May 18, 1948: he was 38 years old. On the day of his funeral, flags were flown at half mast, businesses shuttered for the day and the school was closed. He was buried inside the front entrance of Mission Dolores[1]. As he never married and had no relatives in the United States, the Court appointed temporary managers to oversee Leidesdorff’s estate. In 1849 Army Captain Joseph Folsom (who knew Leidesdorff during Folsom’s time in Yerba Buena) traveled to St. Croix and purchased Leidesdorff’s family’s title to his multi-million dollar estate for $75,000. The government challenged this purchase of title, stating that Leidesdorff’s family, who were not US citizens, had no claim to it. The estate was tied up in litigation for years but in the meantime, Folsom began managing Leidesdorff’s real estate holdings, renaming the Sacramento estate Folsom. Joseph Folsom died before the California Supreme Court finally ruled in his favor in 1854, granting Leidesdorff’s land to Folsom’s heirs. The land was auctioned off in 1856.
There is a small alley in the Financial District[2] named after Leidesdorff with a statue and plaque detailing his life.
[1] Mission Dolores: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4168 [2] Financial District: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4109
