Larkin House State Historic Monument

History of the Larkin House and Thomas O. Larkin

The Larkin House is a reminder of the influence Thomas Oliver Larkin exerted not only on California's political history but also its secular architecture during the first half of the 19th century. In 1834, Larkin constructed one of the first two-story houses to be built in Monterey and one of the earliest examples of Monterey colonial architecture. It became known as the Larkin House adobe. Larkin adapted eastern form to available materials: adobe and redwood. The Larkin House adobe is distinctive for its broad roof overhang above the second floor windows and its surrounding balcony. The roof, designed to shelter the adobe from the corroding effects of rain and wind, was stylish as well as practical and became the predominant design for adobe buildings of the period. As Larkin's home and business place, for over five important years the adobe served as headquarters and the center of social life of the Capital. Here historic decisions regarding California's future were made.

The earliest days of California statehood have a voice in the life of Thomas Oliver Larkin. He served as the first and only United States Consul to Mexican California, 1844-48, and, as a confidential agent of the U.S. government for two of those years, 1846-48, served to 'create a favorable feeling' toward the United States via an extensive propaganda campaign in favor of American acquisition of California that helped to bring about the U.S. seizure of California in the Mexican War. He served from 1847-49 as Navy agent and Naval storekeeper, and was a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention, held at Colton Hall in Monterey in 1849. California became a state in 1850 and Monterey was its first Capital.

Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1802, Thomas O. Larkin was an orphan by the age of sixteen. Of notable Anglo-American descent- one ancestor, Richard Warren, came to America on the Mayflower, and his Grandfather Ebenezer Larkin fought at Bunker Hill- Larkin was forced to make his way in life early, and struggled for a while. He pursued his earliest business ventures in Massachusetts but in 1821 left to try his luck in North Carolina. His efforts met with little success and the young Larkin, encouraged by the adventures of his sailor half-brother, hoped for a better location to build a successful venture. While he preferred to remain in the east, Larkin decided that California was to be his land of venture. He went to California to join his half-brother, John B. R. Cooper, a merchant sea captain and another American destined to importance in early California. He sailed from Boston to Monterey in 1832, and during the voyage had an affair with a married woman, Rachel Hobson Holmes, who was traveling to California to join her own sea captain husband. Not long after her arrival in California, Rachel received word of her husband's death. She and Larkin married in 1833, and the couple (together with a child who had been born to them out of wedlock) took up residence in Monterey. Rachel became the first Anglo-American woman to settle in Alta (Upper) California. Larkin settled in Monterey and opened a store, conducting trade with Mexico and the Sandwich Islands, unquestionably taking advantage of his half-brother's success as a merchant seaman.

As the political and economic capital of Alta California, Monterey was well suited to Larkin's business activities. Not content to work in the employ of his half-brother, Larkin soon embarked upon a successful career as a financier and merchant. After the U.S. conquest, Larkin turned his attention to real estate development and he and a partner, Semple, created the community of Benicia, the first California town to be founded by promoters. He eventually held extensive tracts of land from the Monterey area north, including in San Francisco and the Feather River Valley. Larkin was an unapologetic social climber, and he fostered personal relationships with the influential -- both Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) and Anglo-Americans -- whom he thought might advance his business interests. Unlike many Anglo- American settlers in Mexican California, Larkin does not seem to have harbored feelings of racism toward the Californios. He also distinguished himself from most of his compatriots who had arrived in California during the 1830s by remaining as staunchly Protestant as he was patriotic, and he never converted to Catholicism or became a Mexican citizen.

While perhaps overshadowed by his role as a businessman, Larkin also engaged in diplomatic activities which facilitated California's transition from Mexican to U.S. control. In 1844, he was appointed U.S. Consul at Monterey and was the only individual to hold that position. As Consul, Larkin promoted U.S. economic interests and protected the civil rights of Anglo-American immigrants. In 1845, President James K Polk appointed him as a confidential agent. Larkin used that position to further what he had earlier advocated in a series of letters published in several eastern newspapers, namely, the peaceful acquisition of California, initiated by the Californios themselves, by the United States. However, Larkin's plans for this peaceful union were shortly to be dashed by the outbreak of war between the United States and Mexico.

At the time of his death in San Francisco on October 27, 1858, Larkin was one of the richest and most highly respected men in California.

Chronology

• 1832: Thomas Oliver Larkin and his soon-to-be wife, Rachel Hobson, arrive in Monterey to join his half-brother John B. Rogers Cooper.
• 1834: Larkin begins construction of his home at the corner of Calle Principal and Jefferson Streets in Monterey.
• 1844: Larkin is appointed U.S. Consul to Alta California. The adobe serves as the consulate.
• 1845: President James K. Polk enlists Larkin's special help in promoting U.S. interests in California.
• 1850: California admitted to the Union as the 31st state. Business concerns prompt Larkin's move to New York.
• 1853: Larkin returns to California, settling in San Francisco.
• 1858: Thomas O. Larkin dies. After his death, the Larkin House is sold as part of the disposition of the estate.
• 1922: Larkin's granddaughter, Mrs. Alice Sistare Larkin Toulmin, the daughter of his oldest son Oliver, purchases the house and returns control of it to the Larkin family. She lives in the house for 35 years.
• 1957: Larkin's granddaughter donates the historic adobe and its contents to the State of California as a memorial to her grandfather.

From the guide to the California. Department of Parks and Recreation. Larkin House (Monterey State Historic Park) Collection, 1832 - 1957, (bulk 1880 - 1920)., (California State Parks)