James Lick

<html> <head> <title>James Lick</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is a beta version of NNDB</font></b></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> <nobr>Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </font></b></nobr></form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/172/000170659/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool><br clear="all"><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0><font size=+3 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>James Lick</b></font><p><b>Born:</b> <a href="/lists/755/000106437/" class=proflink>25-Aug</a>-<a href="/lists/795/000105480/" class=proflink>1796</a><br><b>Birthplace:</b> <a href="/geo/053/000156582/" class=proflink>Fredericksburg, PA</a><br><b>Died:</b> <a href="/lists/161/000106840/" class=proflink>1-Oct</a>-<a href="/lists/386/000106068/" class=proflink>1876</a><br><b>Location of death:</b> <a href="/geo/695/000069488/" class=proflink>San Francisco, CA</a><br><b>Cause of death:</b> Natural Causes<br><b>Remains:</b> Buried, Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, CA<br><p><b>Gender:</b> Male<br><b>Religion:</b> <a href="/lists/282/000069075/" class=proflink>Atheist</a><br><b>Race or Ethnicity:</b> White<br><b>Occupation:</b> Business, <a href="/lists/465/000098171/" class=proflink>Philanthropist</a><p><b>Nationality:</b> United States<br><b>Executive summary:</b> Lick Observatory<p>James Lick had only a brief elementary education and worked as an organ and piano maker in Baltimore, before relocating to Buenos Aires in 1820. There he worked as a carpenter and made a fortune in real estate transactions. He later lived in Valparaiso, Chile, and Lima, Peru, before coming to San Francisco in 1847, where he constructed and operated Lick House, one of the finest hotels in the American West. He invested most of his accumulated wealth in the undeveloped real estate surrounding then-frontier San Francisco as well as properties in San Jose, and became one of the richest men in California. With his success in California, Lick wrote to a neighbor and friend from his time in Peru, chocolatier <a href="/people/834/000169327/">Domenico Ghirardelli</a>, and urged him to come to San Francisco.<p> After suffering a stroke in 1873, Lick lived the last three years of his life in a room in his luxurious hotel, where he began to give away much of his fortune. His most well-known philanthropy was the purchase of "a telescope superior to and more powerful than any yet made", which led to establishment of the Lick Observatory. His other endowments included the Pioneer Monument in front of San Francisco's downtown library, as well as the California Academy of Sciences, California School of Mechanical Arts (now Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco), and a home for widows (originally and unfortunately named the Lick Old Ladies Home, but later renamed University Mound Ladies Home). The elaborate glass and iron works of the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park were constructed of materials purchased by Lick, originally intended as a gift to the city of San Jose, but withdrawn after some perceived slight.<p> Lick's Santa Clara mansion still stands, but the hotel he built and died in was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He never married, but acknowledged a son from a youthful affair, and left him $150,000 in his will, which was increased to $535,000 after the younger Lick's litigation. <p><b>Father:</b> John Lick<br><b>Mother:</b> Sarah Long Lick<br><b>Girlfriend:</b> Brabara Snavely (dated 1810s, d. 1851, one son)<br><b>Son:</b> John Henry Lick (b. 1818)<br><p>    <a href="/org/079/000165581/">California Academy of Sciences</a> Benefactor<br>    <a href="/event/187/000071971/">Stroke</a> 1873<br>    <a href="/lists/919/000095634/">Asteroid Namesake</a> 1951 Lick<br>    <a href="/lists/660/000096372/">Lunar Crater</a> Lick<br>    <a href="/lists/644/000044512/">German Ancestry</a> <br> <p> <br> <p> <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: italic; color: #ff3333;">New!</span><br> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=170659"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=170659">James Lick</a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.</font> <br><br><p> <font size=-1>Do you know something we don't?</font><br> <font size=-1><a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=170659" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a></font><br> <p> <br><br><p><font size=-1>Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications</font><p> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>

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James Lick