Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft Library Berkeley, California

Regional Oral History Office University of California the Bancroft Library Berkeley, California

Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California George S. Livermore ARCHITECT GEORGE LIVERMORE REMINISCES ABOUT THE PIONEERING LIVERMORE FAMILY: 1850-1999 With an Introduction by Putnam Livermore Interviews conducted by Caroline C. Crawford in 1996 and 1997 Copyright 0 1999 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and George S. Livermore dated February, 1997. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with George S. Livremore require that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: George S. Livermore, "Architect George Livermore Reminisces about the Pioneering Livermore Family: 1850-1999," an oral history conducted in 1996 and 1997 by Caroline C. Crawford, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. Copy no. Cataloging Information LIVERMORE, George (b. 1914) Architect, Civic Leader Architect Georpe Livermore Reminisces about the Pioneering Livermore Family: 1850-1999, 1999, ix, 174 pp. History of the Livermore Family; Horatio Livermore and across the plains by wagon train, 1850s; mining and entrepreneurship in Gold Rush California; building the first PG&E unit at Folsom; Norman and Caroline Livermore and the acquisition of public lands and other conservation activities; the Livermore brothers; Montesol Ranch; Bay Area architects and architecture; Bay Area music and theater. Introduction by Putnam Livermore, brother. Interviewed 1996-1997 by Caroline Crawford for the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS--The Livermore Family Oral History PREFACE by George Livermore INTRODUCTION by Putnam Livermore INTERVIEW HISTORY vii BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION I EARLY FAMILY HISTORY--HORATIO GATES LIVERMORE: 1850-1916 By Wagon Train to the West: 1850 Property in Oakland and Montesol Ranch: 1872 and 1880 Financial Reverses and a Move to Russian Hill: 1897 Clubs and Affiliations I1 NORMAN LIVERMORE AND CAROLINE SEALY LIVERMORE Grandfathers Livermore and Sealy, and Bonanza Cities Caroline and Norman Livermore: A Pack Trip and an Engagement The Livermore Daughters and Life on Russian Hill Grace Cathedral and the Thanksgiving Window THE LIVERMORE BROTHERS Growing up Independent Schooling at Miss Paul's, Potter's School, and Thacher Music in the Livermore Family Parents' Correspondence The Livermore Births: Hospital Deliveries Remembering Music in the Bay Area Great Estates: House-on-Hill, Filoli, Saratoga More on Russian Hill IV MOVING TO MARIN Life in Ross in the 1930s Caroline Livermore's Conservation Work More About Marin Conservation Frank Lloyd Wright and the Civic Center The Livermores and Famous Architects Other Family Involvements V MONTE SOL First Memories Expanding Montesol The Hands at Montesol Replacing the Original House The Van Ness Property and the Jake Property The Third Generation at Montesol Ranch Enterprises: Walnuts to Water Places to Go, and Things to Know: A Map of Montesol VI THE LIVERMORE BROTHERS: TRAVELS, UNIVERSITIES, AND CAREERS 70 Visiting Europe, 1928 and 1936; Going off to Stanford, 1932; and New Careers 70 Graduate Work at Yale: 1936-1940 74 Serving in the Army: 1940 and Marriage 77 A Wedding List: Family and Friends, Widows and Maiden Ladies 80 The Livermore Sons and Military Service 85 VII A CAREER IN ARCHITECTURE Working with Arthur Brown in San Francisco: 1946 Working Independently: 1952 The Art of Remodeling Ranch-Style Houses, Eichler, "Spite Building" Other Projects William Wurster and Other Bay Area Architectural Work VIII CIVIC WORK 104 Sitting on the Boards of St. Luke's Church and San Francisco Opera: 1950-1980 104 Grace Cathedral Civic Theater 110 Serving on School Boards and the National Council of Churches: 1964-1969 112 Restoring Houses on Lafayette Square in Washington, DC: 1964 115 Architecture in the Bay Region 117 IX THE LIVERMORE HOUSES Julia Morgan, Stanford White, Arthur Brown and Others Stanford White and the Sealy House in Galveston Brown, Bakewell, and Weihe: A House in Ross X THE LIVERMORE FAMILY TODAY Five Sons; Five Careers The Future of Montesol The Livermore Families Family Names More about Travels The Livermore Ghosts TAPE GUlDE 153 APPENDIX "Tribute to Norman B. Livermore," from California Academy of Sciences Dedicatory Exercises, October 27, n.y. [probably 19591 155 "Lines Written While On An Army Transport," poem by Sergeant George Sealy Livermore 158 Letter to Janice Shippey from George Livermore regarding Caroline Sealy Livermore, February 11, 1993 159 "The Livermore Family," from Russian Hill: The Summit, 1853- 1906, 1997 161 "Treasure of a Hiking Trail," San Francisco Chronicle, November 25, 1997 167 Obituary, Robert Sealy Livermore, San Francisco Chronicle, November 15, 1997 Obituary, Beth Livermore Domergue, San Francisco Chronicle, June 22, 1999 INDEX PREFACE by George Livermore There is a thread of optimism, vision, and industriousness that characterized the sturdy Livermore Yankee pioneers. The early history of our branch of the Livermore family in America began in 1634 in Ipswich, England, when John Livermore, the first Livermore pioneer in America, migrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His direct descendant, Elijah, who fought in the Revolution, founded Livermore, Maine, in 1779, and built the first sawmill and grist mill in what was then forest wilderness. In 1850 Horatio Gates Livermore went West to make his fortune in the "Gold Rush" of 1849 and 1850. The following excerpts of his letters show his spirit: To Mrs. H.G. Livermore, No. 8 Allston St., Boston, Mass.--May 24th, 1850: My Dear Wife, I have arrived at Fort Kearny, about 300 miles from St. Joseph. We drive twelve hours per day, and with feeding morning and evening, harnessing and cleaning the horses I have enough to do ... I am in good health and spirits ... The train I belong to stops here only a few minutes, and of course I must continue with them ... Give my love to all. Take care of the boys and wish me good fortune. Yours in haste, Horatio Fort Larramie--Sunday, June 9th, 1850: We are called at about three o'clock or so in the morning to put out our horses and get our breakfast and then we start at about six o'clock and drive slowly along till about noon when we stop two hours, then move along till near night, and then look out a good camp ground, drive our teams in a circle and picket out our horses, prepare supper, light camp fire, set the watch, and retire to sleep in our waggons or tents, and so we sleep ... But all the way is a moving cavalcade. I can compare it to nothing I have seen before, unless it is a Fourth of July procession. Sacramento City--Nov. 1850: 'Tis truly a delightful country in climate, soil and scenery. You descend from the snowy summits through succession after succession of still descending hills, every mile of which is clothed with a most majestic forest, many trees being giants in size. Then come the wider and more level slopes covered with oaks like a cultivated park, interspersed by the most pleasant and green meadows. At last you come to the wide plain of the Sacramento Valley, a verdant carpet interlaced and embroidered with lines of still greener groves ... It has truly the best promise of any land on earth. I doubt not that I have found my home at last. What with Indians, cholera and scarcity of food, I have seen about the worst scenes of war, pestilence and famine, but never had any disquiet for myself, when I saw the fresh mounds piled up on the roadside, I might almost say in one interminable row. I do not regret the overland journey. I have seen the midland portion of our country. I regret not the hardships and cost the sight has required, nor the labour--but such labour--I would not have thought I could have endured it. Think of my walking day after day thirty miles. I got through, however, with six horses, their harness, waggon, tent, cooking utensils, camp equipage and all the thousand et ceteras of housekeeping in the open field.

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