Recollections of a Newspaperman

Frank Aleamon Leach (b. 1846) published the Vallejo Evening Chronicle, 1867-1886; and the Oakland Enquirer, 1886-1898. He retired from journalism to become superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, 1897-1907. Recollections of a newspaperman (1917) begins as Leach and his mother leave Cayuga County, New York, to rejoin the boy's father in California, where the elder Leach had set up a bottling plant in Sacramento. Leach recalls his boyhood there and in Napa, where the family moved in 1857. He tells of experiences as a printer and newspaper publisher in Napa, Vallejo, and Oakland. Other topics are a rail trip east in 1875, mining speculations, a term in the state legislature, Republican Party politics, ranching, railroad strikes, and his campaign against Oakland bosses and the rail interests. Highlights of his years after journalism are his work at the mint and the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906.