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Courtesy U.S. Senate Historical Office
HEARST, George (1820-1891)
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Senate Years of Service: 1886-1886; 1887-1891

HEARST, GEORGE, (Father of William Randolph Hearst), a Senator from California; born near Sullivan, Franklin County, Mo., September 3, 1820; attended the public schools and graduated from the Franklin County Mining School in 1838; upon news of the discovery of gold, moved to California in 1850; highly successful prospector; engaged in mining, stock raising, and farming; moved to San Francisco in 1862; member, State assembly 1865-1866; owner of the San Francisco Examiner; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of California in 1882; appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John F. Miller and served from March 23, 1886, to August 4, 1886, when a successor was elected; elected in 1887 to the United States Senate as a Democrat and served from March 4, 1887, until his death in Washington, D.C., February 28, 1891; interment in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, Calif.

California Historical Society
San Francisco, CA
Papers: Correspondence in Janet Peck papers, 1860-1956.
Henry E. Huntington Library
San Marino, CA
Papers: 1865-1886. 2 items.
Nevada Historical Society
Reno, NV
Papers: Correspondence in Yellow Jacket Silver Mining Company records, 1859-1906.
University of California, Berkeley
The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA
Papers: Ca. 1863-1887. 4 boxes, 1 carton. Business and miscellaneous papers. Finding aid.
Additional Papers: Photocopies of 13 letters (1877-1880) and autobiography (1890); and correspondence in James Ben Ali Haggin papers, 1887-1914; Hearst family papers, [ca. 1885-1957]; Phoebe Hearst papers, ca. 1864-1918; William Randolph Hearst papers, 1873-1902; references about storekeeping in Lead, SD, in Macdonald family papers, ca. 1848-1917; and photographs.
University of Nevada
Special Collections
Reno, NV
Papers: In Simeon Wenben papers, 1867-1891; and 1 deed (1860).

  • Kinsella, Steven R. "Company Store: The Hearst Mercantile, 1879-1942.'' South Dakota History 20 (Summer 1990): 96-119.
  • Older, Fremont, and Cora Miranda Older. George Hearst, California Pioneer. 1933. Reprint. Los Angeles: Westernlore, 1966.
  • Robinson, Judith. The Hearsts: An American Dynasty. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1991.
  • U.S. Congress. Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of George Hearst (a Senator from California): Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives. 52d Cong., 2d sess., 1893. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894.