Yolo-Contra Costa-Solano County CA Archives Biographies.....Blanchard, Frank Williams 1868 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 10, 2005, 2:17 pm

Author: Tom Gregory

FRANK WILLIAMS BLANCHARD

    In a region remote from his native commonwealth and interested in affairs
radically different from the seafaring exploits of his boyhood days, Frank W.
Blanchard is passing the maturity of his resolute, purposeful existence and is
enjoying the rewards of commercial and social prominence tendered to those who
surmount life's hardships with undaunted perseverance. Chance brought him to the
shores of California and at once he was so pleased with the country and the
climate that he resolved to remain, severing the ties that bound him to the home
of his childhood and to the occupation of his youth. Nor has he had reason to
regret the decision that bound him to the west as a permanent citizen, for the
passing of the years has but deepened his devotion to the land of the setting sun.

    The earliest recollections of Mr. Blanchard cluster around the village of
Searsport, Me., where he was born in 1868 and where as a small child he watched
the sailors returning from their voyages to distant countries or with a sad
farewell starting out on their long cruises. The waters of Searsport harbor and
Belfast bay on either hand attracted him by their nearness to the great ocean
and often he sailed with friends on the vessels that passed here and there
between the many tiny islands lying off the coast of Waldo county. Like many
other lads reared in seacoast towns, he followed the sea in his youth and by his
industry and application he soon rose to be first mate. After having sailed over
many seas and cast anchor at many ports, he finally in 1888 passed through the
Golden Gates into the harbor of San Francisco as the first mate on the ship A.
J. Fuller, but this position he resigned in order to become a citizen of the far
west.

   The first position secured by the young sailor in California was in the
employ of Balfour, Guthrie & Co., at Port Costa, Contra Costa county, and for
three years he continued with that firm. Next he secured a position with the C.
B. Houghton Lumber Company of Benicia. Removing from that point to Woodland
during the year 1903 he formed an association with the West Valley Lumber
Company, whose interests at this place he since has superintended and in the
responsible capacity of manager has proved the trustworthiness of his character
and the sagacity of his judgment. Originally known as the Puget Sound Lumber
Company, the enterprise has had years of successful commercial activity. The
present title was assumed in 1888, when the older company was absorbed by the
West Valley, which since has owned and operated the entire plant and is now
rounding out its quarter of a century in Yolo county. At one time the company
owned yards in six towns, but at this writing they operate only in Woodland and
Dixon. Their property in both places is well improved and their yards finely
equipped for their special use. The business is large and the uniform honesty of
the company in all transactions has given it a high standing among the people as
well as an enviable rating among the banks. Mr. Blanchard is also interested in
the building up of Woodland in other ways. In 1912 he laid out Blanchard's
addition to Woodland on Cleveland and Cross streets, opposite the city park,
where he is erecting modern bungalows. He is one of the founders and a director
of the Northern California Building and Loan Association of Woodland, and he
also takes an active part in the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants'
Association.

   Notwithstanding his many business interests Mr. Blanchard has found the
leisure for identification with the Woodmen of the World, Knights of Pythias and
the Masons, in which latter order he has become associated not only with the
local blue lodge and chapter, but also with the Knights Templar and Islam
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of San Francisco. The principles of Masonry
find in him a steadfast upholder and their charitable enterprises receive his
sincere support. With his wife, formerly Miss Etta M. Sanborn of Benicia, and
their son, Elbridge H., he has a comfortable home in Woodland and a large circle
of friends among the best people of the community, and he and his wife are
members of the Unitarian Church. Among business men he is regarded as an expert
in the lumber industry. His judgment of the values of different grades of lumber
is seldom at fault and his sagacity in selecting the best possible varieties for
use in the company's yards has contributed in no small degree to the success of
the business.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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