Biographical History
Andrew Jackson Pope and Frederic Talbot arrived in California 1849 from East Machias, Maine, and started a business together to move lumber through the San Francisco Bay area. In early 1852, A.J. Pope and William C. Talbot, along with Charles Foster and Josiah P. Keller, formed the Puget Mill Co., a lumber mill, in the area later known as Port Gamble, Washington. In 1862, Pope and Talbot formed another company, Pope & Talbot, that managed the sales of materials from the lumber mill as well as owned and operated a fleet of vessels used to ship the lumber from the mills. By 1881, Pope & Talbot owned four sawmills, nineteen cargo and lumber ships, and thousands of acres of timberlands in Oregon, Maine, California, and Washington.
William H. and Frederick C. Talbot took over running the businesses after the deaths of A.J. Pope in 1878 and of their father, William C. Talbot, in 1881. In 1889, five other companies were formed by Pope & Talbot to deal with the many aspects of the business of the mill, such as lumber, shipping, and trading: Puget Lumber Co., Puget Shipping Co., Puget Trading Co., Puget Mercantile Co., and Puget Commercial Co. In 1925, W.H. Talbot and George A. Pope, Sr., sold the Puget Mill companies to the Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company although in 1938 the property reverted back to Pope & Talbot when the McCormick company defaulted on its loan. William H.'s sons, William C. II and Frederick C. (known as F.C. Talbot) eventually played major roles in the company. George A. Pope became a major stockholder in the company, served as president from 1933 to 1940, and was a senior member at the time of his death in 1942.
The Pope and Talbot families maintained residences in both Washington and California, primarily in the Port Ludlow, Port Gamble, and San Francisco areas.
From the guide to the William H. Talbot Family Albums Collection, 1869-1930, (Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History, )
