Samuel Woolsey Backus (6 November 1844 in

Pine Plains, New York Pine Plains is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,218 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the geographic character of the region. The hamlet of Pine Plains is on the northern border of the county. ...

– 10 April 1930 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California) served in the California legislature and during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

he served in the US Army. From January 9, 1880 – July 1, 1882 he served as Adjutant General of the

California National Guard The California National Guard (Cal Guard) is part of the National Guard (United States), National Guard of the United States, a dual federal–state military reserve force in the state of California. It has three components: the California Army ...

. Backus was born in 1844 in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

, and moved to California in 1852, where he was educated at the public schools of Sacramento. He served in the Civil War, joining the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

in 1862. He was made a Second Lieutenant at 19, and served with distinction until the close of the War. He served in the Modoc wars of 1865–1866, and for a time commanded at Fort Bidwell. Retiring from the Army he entered the civil service, first in the Internal Revenue Department, and afterward in the Custom House, in 1867 he gave up the public service for private business, and became a commission merchant, and for ten years did an extensive trade. In 1878, he was elected to the State Legislature from the same district with the late Hon. John F. Swift. He was appointed Adjutant-General by Governor George C. Perkins in 1880, and was a most efficient officer, reorganizing the State militia thoroughly. He was San Francisco's Postmaster, under President

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

's administration ('82-86), and made such an enviable record as an administrator of public affairs that President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

re-appointed him in 1890. In 1889 he purchased the San Francisco ''

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

'', an illustrated weekly magazine of news and satire. He also served as U.S. Immigration Commissioner in San Francisco, appointed by President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

in 1911 and reappointed by Governor

Hiram Johnson Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in the U.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johns ...

in 1913, serving until 1915.

References

External links

* 1844 births 1930 deaths Union army officers Members of the California State Legislature 19th-century American legislators Politicians from Poughkeepsie, New York 19th-century California politicians {{california-politician-stub