TWHP


Thomas Larkin, 1802-1858   

A Massachussetts native, Thomas Larkin sailed to the West in 1831 after a business failure. Working as an assistant to a relative doing business in Monterey, the Mexican capital of California, Larkin opened a store and thrived. He got along well with the local authorities and was appointed United States Consul in the town in 1843; his intimate knowledge of business and political affairs eventually earned him repute as an expert, as did his letters to eastern newspapers on conditions on the Pacific Coast. After the election to the Presidency of the expansionist James Polk, Larkin found himself named as a confidential agent in the nation's interest in 1845, just before war broke out with Mexico; he did what he could behind the scenes to encourage local residents to opt for an association with the United States rather than England or France, then also interested in a Pacific Coast presence. In the confusing months that followed, Larkin acted as a peaceful mediator even though he was arrested at one point by Mexican authorities. The war over, he conciliated the erstwhile belligerants and helped form the new state and its constitution while expanding his business interests to include real estate development. He's said to have accumulated up to a quarter-million acres in the state, and he founded the city of Benicia; he managed to have it named as the state capital for a brief period. After sojourns in New York, he relocated his family to San Francisco, where he dabbled in politics; after his favored candidate, John Fremont, lost the Presidency to James Buchanan, he found doors closed to him in Washington by 1857. He died the following year in San Francisco, of typhoid fever.


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