The west shore., June 01, 1885, Page 163, Image 3

THE WEST SHORE,
163
THE CROCKER TESTIMONIAL.
ON the 6th of My th pitiw.s of Sacramento, Ctl,
tendered to Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker a magnificent
floral testimonial and tribute of their love and gratitude
such as no oitizen of the United States ever before re
oeived at the hands of friends and neighbors. It was a
spontaneous and unanimous expression of their venera
tion for one whose life of benevolence and charity in
their midst had won her the estoem and devotion of
every one within the oity limits. A briof reviow of hor
life and deeds will best explain the cause of this great
popular uprising.
, Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker (nA Rhodos) was born in
Stark County, Ohio, February 25, 1824, the youngost of
a family of twelve. Ohio was then the frontier, and she
grew to womanhood amid all the trials and privations of
a pioneer life. It is well to pass briefly over the early
period of her lifo, for it is of the later years and her
many acts of benevolence of which we would apeak. On
the 8th of July, 1852, she was married to the Hon. Ed
ward Bryant Crocker, in the oity of New York, the core
mony being performed by the Rev. Henry Ward Beeoher.
. She immediately departed with her husband for Califor
nia, going by way of the Isthmus, reaching San Francisco
on the 1st of the following September. Mr. Crocker at
once began the praotioe of his profession (the law) in
Saorameuto, which city still honors his memory and, as
this tribute shows, reveres his noble-hearted oonsori
Judge Crocker was a man of great mental vigor and
capacity. For a time he sat upon the Supreme bench of
California, and left behind him a record of work accom
plished which has nover been equalled by his successors.
He was one of the five business men of Sacramento who
took hold of the Central Pacific Railroad in its infancy,
gave to it their great abilities, their unflagging seal and
' every dollar of their earnings through years of pionoer
struggles and privations. Thoir success is a matter of his
tory. They became wealthy some of them beyond their
vaguest dreams when the enterprise was inaugurated.
Judge Crocker had not in his soul the eloments which
go to make the " railroad king," as that term is offen
sively understood. He was a gentleman of noble im
pulses and benevolent disposition one who oould never
forget the struggles of his early life nor ignore the trials
through which he saw others passing. His hand was
always extended to aid the deserving, and publio and
private charities found in him a liberal patron. This
spirit of benevolence was possessed by his life coin pan ion
in a still higher degree, and when Judge Crocker died
full of honors in 1875 she oontiuued the work, perform
ing more deeds of charity than had both of thorn done
lwfore. So many and so great have boon her benefac
tions that thousands fool a personal gratitude for what
has been done for them. Ostentation site never displays
and publicity she avoids. Her good deeds have never
been heralded abroad, until on this occasion, when ber
friends took the matter into thoir own hands and ren
dered her this spontaneous tribute of honor. Ho quiotly
and rosorvedly has sho jwrformod ber good works that no
one pretends to be able to recount them, yet thousands
Lo ltavii LuuuuUmI Ly hor Wgtwa can tentity each to his
own exporienoe, while thousands more have been aided
who knew not the hand of the donor. This her noigh.
bors know, and for this they honor hor.
Leaving those acts to bo recorded in the groat book of
good deeds, unseen by the eyes of the world, a briof mon
tion of hor more extonaivo, and consequently more public,
gifts will be interesting. The more prominent of these
are: Oift of a valuable halt block to the oity for sohool
purposes; a tract of land donated to tho oity for a oeme
tory, and another to tho Pionoor Association for the same
purpose; liberal donations to all publio enterprises; en
dowment of an Old Ladies' Home; and, finally, the gift
to the oity of the oolobrated Crookor Art Oallory and its
valuable contents, worth half a million dollars. The
home for old ladios was built by hor in 1882, at a total
expense for grounds, building, furniture, etc, of $118,000,
and endowed with t12,000 of bonds, making a total dona
tion of 1100,000. She turned the entire institution over
to the management of a board of five trustees, who are
zealous in rendoring it the equal of the founder's ideal,
in whose honor they named it " Marguerite Home." The
Bell Conservatory, though not a gift to tho public, servos
to still further illustrate this lady's kindly character. It
was foundod in 1880, and oovors five and a half acres.
Mrs. Crookor is a passionate lover of flowers, and has
gathored hor tribute from the wlmlo floral world. The
conservatory, with its beautiful walks and drives, is open
to the publio at all timos. Appreciating the fact that
ohoioe flowers are beyond the means of the poor, the owner
permits the sale of flowors at a merely nominal price,
thus enabling tho poorer people to procure those emblems
of love and purity on many occasions when they would
otherwise have to forogo them. To do this was the
ruling motive of this benevolent lady whon the conserva
tory was founded.
With the presentation of the art gallery the cup,
whioh she had been steadily filling fur years, ran com
pletely ovor, and the poople oould not resist giving voice
to the feeling of love, gratitude and respect which had
been growing for years. During thoir frequout travels
in Earope and America Mr. and Mrs. Crocker purchased
many works of art, numbering 701 in all, most of thorn
by artists of wide reputation. There are paintings by
Murillo, Vandyke, Hakl, Kaulbaoh, Hubnor, Van Oer,
Tintoretto and others of note, also many woll-executod
oopies of the old masters. To contain those a large
brick, stone and iron building was erected at a cost of
t200,000, with its interior designed for a combined art
gallery, museum and library. The gallery has always
been open to the public on frequent atatod days, a small
idmissiou being generally charged, the proceeds of which
were donated to the Orphans' Huron. In November,
1884, a fow business men and journalist of Sacramento
inaugurated a movement for the establishment in that
city of a publio museum, art gallery, school of art and
science, and a collection of the products of California.
Thn frmtt was tha incorporation' rtf the California Mn-