Lawyer, Businessman. Born in Jamesville, New York, Crocker graduated from the Rensselaer Institute in 1833 and briefly worked as a civil engineer before pursuing a career as a successful lawyer. Shortly after his marriage to Margaret Rhoades in 1852, he moved to California where he joined his younger brother, Charles, in Sacramento. A founding member of the California Republican party, he was appointed by Governor Leland Stanford to serve on the California State Supreme Court in 1863. A year later, he was appointed chief legal counsel of the Central Pacific Railroad where he would serve until 1869 when he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. Along with railroad titans Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, C.P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker, he is often considered the fifth member of the Big Four. Following his stroke, he travelled to Europe for a couple of years collecting art. The pieces he collected ultimately became part of his private art gallery, which became the Crocker Art Museum when his widow donated the gallery to the city of Sacramento in 1885.
Lawyer, Businessman. Born in Jamesville, New York, Crocker graduated from the Rensselaer Institute in 1833 and briefly worked as a civil engineer before pursuing a career as a successful lawyer. Shortly after his marriage to Margaret Rhoades in 1852, he moved to California where he joined his younger brother, Charles, in Sacramento. A founding member of the California Republican party, he was appointed by Governor Leland Stanford to serve on the California State Supreme Court in 1863. A year later, he was appointed chief legal counsel of the Central Pacific Railroad where he would serve until 1869 when he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. Along with railroad titans Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, C.P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker, he is often considered the fifth member of the Big Four. Following his stroke, he travelled to Europe for a couple of years collecting art. The pieces he collected ultimately became part of his private art gallery, which became the Crocker Art Museum when his widow donated the gallery to the city of Sacramento in 1885.
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