Silsby Spalding
Spalding in the 1920s
BornMay 29, 1886
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
DiedMay 5, 1949(1949-05-05) (aged 62)
Beverly Hills, California
EducationPomona College Preparatory School
Stanford University[1]
Occupation(s)Businessman, politician
SpouseCaroline Canfield
ChildrenDeborah C. Spalding
Parent(s)Salathiel Martin Spalding
Sarah Eglantine Camp
RelativesCharles A. Canfield (father-in-law)

Silsby Spalding (May 29, 1886 – May 5, 1949) was an American businessman and politician. He served as the first mayor of Beverly Hills, California, from 1926 to 1928.

Early life

Silsby Morse Spalding was born on May 29, 1886, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[2][3][4] His father was Salathiel Martin Spalding and his mother, Sarah Eglantine Camp.[2] He studied at the Pomona College Preparatory School in Claremont, California,[3][4] and later at Stanford University.[1]

Career

Spalding was a sporting goods magnate.[5][6] He also served as one of the earliest Presidents of the Aero Club of Southern California, and was an executive at the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company and the Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Co.[7]

Spalding served as the first Mayor of Beverly Hills, California from 1926 to 1928.[3][4][5][6][7][8] During his tenure, he appointed Will Rogers as honorary mayor, garnering worldwide publicity for Beverly Hills.[7]

Personal life

Spalding married Caroline Canfield (1890-1970), daughter of oilman Charles A. Canfield (1848-1913) in 1911.[6][9][10] They had a daughter, Deborah C. Spalding (1921-2011).[2]

In 1912, after Canfield's death, they moved into Grayhall, an estate located at 1100 Carolyn Way, formerly built by Carole Lombard's father as a hunting lodge and later owned by George Hamilton and Bernard Cornfeld.[5][9][10][11][12] From 1918 to 1921, they lived in the Frank Flint Estate, a Colonial Revival-style mansion resembling a Southern plantation located at 1006 North Crescent Drive.[9] He later purchased the Tecolote Ranch in Goleta, California, where he raised purebred cattle and horses, and grew walnut and citrus trees.[7]

Death and legacy

Spalding died on May 5, 1949, at his main residence at 1019 Laurel Way in Beverly Hills, California.[7]

Street sign of Spalding Dr on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California.

Spalding Drive in Beverly Hills is named in his honor.[8][13]

References

  1. 1 2 Osterdahl, Andy (6 May 2015). "Silsby Morse Spalding (1886-1949)". The Strangest Names In American Political History. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Ancestry.com
  3. 1 2 3 Claremont Colleges Digital Library: Students on steps of the Fulkerson's house in Claremont, California, 1904
  4. 1 2 3 Digital Library: Student residence interior with students smoking pipes, Pomona College, 1904
  5. 1 2 3 Ruth Ryon, Updated Estate Is Rich in History, The Los Angeles Times, January 27, 2002
  6. 1 2 3 Cecilia Rasmussen Tale of Wealth, Murder and a Family's Decline, The Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2000
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 OBITUARY -- Silsby Spalding, Beverly Hills Ex-Mayor, Dies, The Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1949
  8. 1 2 Roots of Beverly Hills Streets Go Deeper Than Movie Era, The Los Angeles Times, February 03, 1994
  9. 1 2 3 Marc Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills, Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 42-43
  10. 1 2 Marc Wanamaker, Beverly Hills, (Ca): 1930-2005, Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 69
  11. ↑ George Hamilton, William Stadiem, Don't Mind If I Do, Simon and Schuster, 2008, p. 144
  12. ↑ Mary Ann Bonino, The Doheny Mansion: A Biography of a Home, Pioneers, 2008, p. 180
  13. ↑ Google Maps
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