Irishman John Reed and Englishman William Richardson were among the first Anglos to visit San Francisco Bay, and it turns out they had an extraordinary amount in common.
Woodblock print of John Reed’s sawmill
Photo Courtesy of Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library
According to two books in the Historical Society collection, Early Marin by Jack Mason and Jack Tracy’s Moments in Time:
They were both mariners.
Richardson got here first, aboard the whaler Orion in 1822. After a night of partying at the Presidio, he decided to stay.
Reed left Ireland at age 15 with a seafaring uncle and sailed to Yerba Buena (as San Francisco was known then) by way of Acapulco in 1826.
They both fell in love with Sausalito, then known as Saucelito.
Richardson taught the local Miwoks how to build boats and began supplying ships at anchor in Yerba Buena Cove and at Whaler’s Cove across the bay.
Shortly after arriving, Reed petitioned for a grant to the tract of land known as Rancho Saucelito. His petition was denied because he was not a Mexican citizen. Richardson, who had become a citizen upon first arriving, submitted his own land grant application for the rancho in 1828; after muddling through red tape for 10 years, he finally got his grant ten years later.
After Reed became a citizen, he gained title to an adjacent tract, which included today’s Mill Valley.
Both married well and ingratiated themselves into local society.
Richardson converted to Catholicism and married Maria Antonia Martinez, daughter of the Commandante of the Presidio in 1825. He had married above his station, but he was able to offer his wife what has been described as “a breadth of experience and accomplishment, a genial disposition and a sense of humor that gave them all many happy hours.”
Reed married Hilaria Sanchez, daughter of Maritinez’ successor at the Presidio, in 1837. Mason says, “At the Presidio the likeable young Irishman made the acquaintance of the commandant Jose Antonio Sanchez, whose youngest daughter Hilaria he later married.”
They both operated ferries on the Bay.
Richardson named his after his wife Maria and Reed named his after his wife Hilaria.
They were both politically connected.
Richardson became Captain of the Port of Yerba Buena in 1835.
Reed served as Administrator for the Mission San Rafael in 1836 and ’37.
They were both entrepreneurs.
In addition to their maritime pursuits, each man ran cattle on his rancho, and both erected sawmills on their property.
They were good friends.
Although sometimes business rivals, and even disputants, Reed and Richardson and their families socialized frequently, often entertaining visiting dignitaries.
But there the similarities end.
Reed went on to establish a dynasty in Southern Marin despite his untimely death at 38.
Richardson lived to age 61 but died deeply in debt from a series of business reversals.
A few years later his children lost their rancho in a questionable legal settlement, and eventually left Sausalito to seek new lives elsewhere.
By Larry Clinton
Sausalito Historical Society
