Davis, William Heath, 1822-1909

Davis was a pioneer merchant and landowner, of Calif.

American author.

California Pioneer. Helped found New San Diego in 1850.

William Heath "Kanaka Bill" Davis was born in HI in 1822, the grandson of a Polynesian princess; accompanied his stepfather on voyages to AK, and when he was ten, to CA; learned merchandizing from his uncle Nathan Spear, a wealthy merchant with stores in San Francisco and Monterey; operated store in San Francisco, served briefly on the town council, and became a millionaire by age 28; invested in 160 acre waterfront property, now located between Front Street and Broadway in San Diego; sent for six prefabricated buildings from Portland, ME in 1849 and built a wharf and warehouse called New Town; however it did not attract sufficient business, and became known as Davis' Folly; Davis wrote Sixty years in California (1889) and Seventy-five years in California (published posthumously in 1929); he died in 1909.

William Heath "Kanaka Bill" Davis was born in Hawaii in 1822, the grandson of a Polynesian princess; accompanied his stepfather on voyages to Alaska, and when he was ten, to California; learned merchandizing from his uncle Nathan Spear, a wealthy merchant with stores in San Francisco and Monterey; operated store in San Francisco, served briefly on the town council, and became a millionaire by age 28; invested in 160 acre waterfront property, now located between Front Street and Broadway in San Diego; sent for six prefabricated buildings from Portland, ME in 1849 and built a wharf and warehouse called New Town; however it did not attract sufficient business, and became known as Davis' Folly; Davis wrote Sixty years in California (1889) and Seventy-five years in California (published posthumously after his death in 1929); he died in 1909.

California merchant and ship owner.

California pioneer and one of the founders of new San Diego.

William Heath Davis (1822-1909), San Francisco merchant and author, established his store in San Francisco in 1845. He married María de Jesús Estudillo in 1847 and was associated with many prominent California families. He was instrumental in the founding of Oakland and San Diego, California, and he owned property at both places. His memoirs of early days in California were published as Sixty years in California (1889), and a later enlarged version, Seventy-five years in California (1929) was edited by John Howell.

William Heath Davis Jr. was an American author, born in 1822 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was one of the early settlers of San Diego. He wrote two books about his life in California. Davis died in April 1909 in San Leandro, California.

Biography

William Heath Kanaka Bill Davis was born in Hawaii in 1822, the grandson of a Polynesian princess; accompanied his stepfather on voyages to Alaska, and when he was ten, to California; learned merchandizing from his uncle Nathan Spear, a wealthy merchant with stores in San Francisco and Monterey; operated store in San Francisco, served briefly on the town council, and became a millionaire by age 28; invested in 160 acre waterfront property, now located between Front Street and Broadway in San Diego; sent for six prefabricated buildings from Portland, Maine in 1849 and built a wharf and warehouse called New Town; however it did not attract sufficient business, and became known as Davis' Folly; Davis wrote Sixty Years in California (1889) and Seventy-Five Years in California (published posthumously in 1929); he died in 1909.

Biography

William Heath Kanaka Bill Davis was born in Hawaii in 1822, the grandson of a Polynesian princess; accompanied his stepfather on voyages to Alaska, and when he was ten, to California; learned merchandizing from his uncle Nathan Spear, a wealthy merchant with stores in San Francisco and Monterey; operated store in San Francisco, served briefly on the town council, and became a millionaire by age 28; invested in 160 acre waterfront property, now located between Front Street and Broadway in San Diego; sent for six prefabricated buildings from Portland, Maine in 1849 and built a wharf and warehouse called New Town; however it did not attract sufficient business, and became known as Davis' Folly; Davis wrote Sixty Years in California (1889) and Seventy-Five Years in California (published posthumously in 1929); he died in 1909.

Biography

William Heath Davis was born of a Boston sea-faring, ship-owning family, in Honolulu in 1822. Visiting California as a boy, he returned in 1838 to clerk in a store in Monterey owned by his uncle, Nathan Spear, and subsequently engaged in trading trips to Yerba Buena and the Hawaiian Islands. In 1845 he settled in San Francisco, established his own business and became one of the city's most prominent merchants and ship owners. In 1847 he married María de Jesús Estudillo, daughter of Joaquin Estudillo, a wealthy rancher. In addition to his mercantile activities he was instrumental in the founding of San Diego and Oakland. He died at Hayward, California, April 19, 1909.

Biographical Information

William Heath Davis (1822-1909) was an early Californian merchant, shipowner, and landowner. Born in Hawaii, he went to work for his uncle Nathan Spear in San Francisco beginning in 1838; served as a supercargo aboard the Don Quixote in 1842-1843; and worked as an agent for Paty, McKinley & Co. in San Francisco between the years 1843 and 1845. The following year he purchased the brig Euphemia with his new partner Hiram Grimes, becoming a major San Francisco merchant in his own right. In 1847, he married the daughter of Joaquin Estudillo, Maria de Jesus, assuming ownership of a large property in what is now San Leandro.