William Richardson, Founder of San Francisco You Never Knew

When it comes to San Francisco history, William Richardson is not exactly a popular name. Today, it is time to shed some light on this individual mostly forgotten by history. 

William Anthony Richardson
via Wikicommons

William Anthony Richardson, as I had previously covered in this blog, is an officer on a British whaling ship Orion. His exact position is either first officer or fourth mate, it doesn't really matter, only that he's not the captain. In 1822, his ship arrived in today's San Francisco Bay, just as Mexico had won its independence, and reversed the long-standing Spanish policy of isolation. Instead, the Mexican ports will be open to trade... as long as it gets its fair share in taxes and transactions are properly recorded. 

Richardson met Maria Antonia, as imagined by Bluewillow

Mr. Richardson was sent ashore as he has a knowledge of Spanish, and he was promptly escorted by soldiers to see their Comandante, Ignacio Martinez, who invited him to the fiesta he was holding that night. And it is there, he met the Commandant's oldest daughter, Maria (sometimes Mara) Antonia Martinez, and let's just say, he did not return to the ship until dawn, and his captain was not too pleased with him. 

From here on, history was unclear whether he quit voluntarily or was "fired" by Captain Barney of the Orion, but he returned to the fort with all of his belongings, stating his intentions to stay. It took him a few years, including conversion to Roman Catholic, and having his petition of citizenship accepted by the civilian governor, but he got all that done and gained the blessing of Ignacio and eventually married Maria Antonia in 1825. They actually went south for several years and lived at Mision San Gabriel (near today's Los Angeles), and eventually petitioned the governor for some land across the Golden Gate (today's Marin county) as well as permission to start exploiting the land east of the Presidio (today's downtown San Francico). 

It is important to note that the only Mexican presence in the area at the time was the Presidio, the military fort, and Mision San Francisco de Asis, commonly known today as Mission Dolores, which is to the south. 

While his initial petitions were denied, Richardson eventually gained permission to be the port captain of the area and was granted the first pieces of land east of the port, in today's Chinatown, once he surveyed the area in 1835. He also built the first house in the area, first a tent, then a log cabin, and finally, an adobe house named "Case Grande" (big house). He was later also granted a large piece of land in today's Marin, which he named Rancho Saucelito, which eventually became today's city of Sausalito. 

He ran a brisk business by building docks on both sides of the Golden Gate and provided fresh water from the spring on the Marin side, and it's all official since he's the port captain. 

During the 1846-48 US Mexican War, he gathered many supplies for the US side for Captain Fremont, even though his daughter's fiance Francisco de Haro, plus his brother and uncle, who were visiting relatives in San Rafael, were shot dead by Kit Carson and his band of Bear Flag rebels. Kit Carson later blamed Captain Fremont, claiming he was only following orders to stop the De Haros from revealing that the rebels had taken over the area. Richardson and family, nonetheless, became US citizens when the dust settled. He was then appointed Port Captain by Commodore Stockton. 

Richardson invested heavily in the town and docks of Sausalito, hoping to entice the US Navy into picking Sausalito as its West Coast homeport, and he leveraged his own holdings heavily. It didn't help that several of his land holdings from the Mexican era were tied up in court. When US Navy eventually chose Mare Island in 1853 further into the Bay at today's Vallejo, he was forced to mortgage the rest of his holdings at usurious rates of 36% annually. 

Richardson's Cargo Ship sunk, imagined by Blue Willow 

In 1856, William Richardson lost three of his ships, none of which were insured. This pushed him over the edge into bankruptcy. He died not long after, a broken man. 

William Richardson was buried on a hillside above his home. Unfortunately, he will not rest there. His son was later forced to exhume his remains and rebury them in Mount Olivet Cemetery in San Rafael after the land was taken over by new owners. 

Then in 1881, a fire swept through the cemetery in San Rafael, destroying the wooden grave market marking William Richardson's resting place. While a new family plot for the Richardsons was erected later, his remains were never located. 

Today, there was no plaque marking his grave. Indeed, a group of amateur historians, E. Clampus Vitus, once made a plaque of Richardson to give to the cemetery, but the cemetery refused to put it up, claiming they can't even verify if Richardson was buried there. 

It took the US legal process 27 years to verify his land claims for Rancho Sausalito. His other ranch, Rancho Albion was confirmed by Land Commission then rejected by the District Court. His wife, son, and daughter died pretty much penniless, any holdings deeded to them after his death was sold for a pittance to a greedy lawyer. 

Today, only a few descendants from the daughter's side are around. And other than Richardson St. in Martinez, Richardson Bay, and Richardson Ave. in the Marina district, the only public acknowledgment of William Richardson is a TINY little plaque at 933 Grant Ave, installed in 1937. 

E. Clampus Vitus gave the plaque to the city of Sausalito, who dedicated the plaque in 1999 to Richardson's honor... complete with a parade. 

And now you know more than most about William A. Richardson, founder of San Francisco.