Alameda County
Biographies
HERBERT F. BROWN.
Among the many qualities of mind and character which render men useful and worthy citizens that of public spirit stands preeminent, for it takes success beyond the ranks of individual benefits and places it among valuable and important public assets. Generously endowed with this quality is Herbert F. Brown, who more than any other individual has built up the city of Richmond, promoting its civic, moral, industrial and financial development and accomplishing along with his own prosperity a valuable work of public service. His name has come to be regarded as a synonym for progress and advancement in the community which numbers him foremost among its men of worth and substance.
Mr. Brown is a native of Wisconsin and came to California in 1889, engaging in the hardware business in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He continued at this occupation until 1907, when he came to Richmond, where he has since been numbered among the representative and valued citizens. His interests here have extended to many fields touching closely the general good of the community, a fact which is plainly evident from a list of his important accomplishments and his business connections. In 1907 he bought the New Richmond addition of fifty-nine lots, erected houses and later sold the entire tract. He has the remarkable record of having since that time put about thirty tracts of Richmond property upon the market. He is a member of the Richmond Industrial Commission and served two years as president of this organization, in the work of which he still takes an active part. In August, 1912, he founded the Western States Porcelain Company of Richmond, which under his able management as president and treasurer has become one of the most prosperous industrial concerns in the city. Mr. Brown is vice president of the Mechanics Bank of Richmond, former president of the Sterling Fixture Company and of the Herbert F. Brown Company, Incorporated. He has important banking interests in San Francisco, was the organizer of the Calistoga National Bank of Calistoga and owns apartment houses and homes in Richmond valued at over one hundred thousand dollars. He has the utmost faith in the future of this city, a faith testified to by many investments and made stronger by the successful completion of various projects of advancement. A keen and resourceful business man, he has worked steadily along lines of progress and growth with the result that many of the most important business concerns in Richmond owe their foundation to his initiative spirit and their continued prosperity to his ability and insight.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 530
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
HENRY GORDON McGILL, M. D.
Dr. Henry Gordon McGill, a successful physician and surgeon of Livermore, has here practiced his profession continuously for the past eleven years and has won an enviable reputation as a representative of his chosen calling. He is a native of Toronto, Ontario, his birth having there occurred in 1862. His father, George McGill, M. D., was also a native of that province and a banker in Ontario.
Henry G. McGill acquired his early education in a private school and subsequently attended Trinity University and McGill University of Montreal, studying medicine in both institutions. In 1883 he went to San Diego county, California, and for several years resided on a large fruit ranch there, while later he purchased a small ranch in Pomona, Los Angeles county. In 1887 he went to New York city and there took a course in medicine, being graduated in 1890. Immediately afterward he located for practice in San Francisco and there followed his profession successfully until 1903, when he came to Livermore, where he has maintained an office continuously since. He has especially developed his ability as a surgeon but does a general practice and is accorded a liberal and lucrative patronage. He frequently contributes articles on case observations to professional journals, and these have been widely read and are recognized as of value to the fraternity. Dr. McGill has served as health officer for the town of Livermore during the past eight years and has long been numbered among the leading and able representatives of his profession in Alameda county.
In 1901, at Sunol Glen, Alameda county, Dr. McGill was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Carter, a native of this county. They have one daughter, Adelaide. Mrs. McGill takes an active part in church and missionary work and is a valued member of the Ladies' Aid Society. The Doctor also attends the Presbyterian church and sings in its choir. He joined the Masonic fraternity when twenty-one years of age and now belongs to Lodge No. 218, A. F. & A. M., to which he transferred his membership upon coming to Livermore. He holds to high ideals not only in professional service but in citizenship and in social relations, and his sterling manhood has gained for him the warm and enduring regard of all with whom he has come in contact.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 531
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler