Stanford
LELAND, an American philanthropist; born in Watervliet, Albany co., N. Y., March 9, 1824; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1849, and the same year began to practice at Port Washington, Wis. In 1852 he went to California, where he engaged in mining, but in 1856 removed to San Francisco, and there engaged in business, laying the foundation of a fortune estimated at more than $50,000,000. In 1860 he made his entrance into public life as a delegate to the Chicago convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. Subsequently he was elected president of the Central Pacific railroad in 1861; 1861; was governor of California in 1861-1863; and in 1885 was elected to the United States Senate. In memory of a deceased son, Leland Stanford, Jr., he gave $20,000,000 for the founding of Leland Stanford University at Palo Alto, Cal. He died in Palo Alto, June 21, 1893.