nance. His florid complexion and light-blue eyes indicated his active temperament and love of out-door pursuits. He died at his residence in Susanville, February fourteenth, 1869, after an illness of six days. He was buried with Masonic honors, and the following extract from the resolutions passed by the Lodge of which he was a member shows the esteem in which he was held, and finds an echo in every heart that knew him.

"In the death of Isaac N. Roop the Masonic Order has lost an ardent friend, one ever attached to its precepts, one whose heart and hand were ever open to the melting appeals of charity, whose benevolence, knowing no bounds, seemed to embrace the vast sea of humanity, whose generous will extended itself for the good of Masonry, and whose enlarged mind was ever impressed with the controlling tenets, Charity, Relief and Brotherly Love. The benevolent impulses, the charitable disposition, the generous promptings-emanations of a noble heart-the persevering will and manly attributes that adorned the intellect and character of Isaac N. Roop, will ever be deeply esteemed, fondly cherished and remembered by his brethren of Lassen Lodge."

THOMAS H. SELBY.

BY WILLIAM Y. WELLS.

E

XPERIENCE has shown that municipal affairs are never so faithfully administered as when removed from the control of professed politicians. A familiarity with party tactics, which has generally been deemed the steppingstone to National as well as State official preferment, is not essential to the well-being of a city which requires especially the exercise of common sense, economy, and executive ability. The qualities indispensable to the management of a large commercial firm are not less demanded in the governing head of a community, and the most successful rulers of American cities have been those who were chosen from among business men, irrespective of politics, and solely with reference to honesty and capability. Elected by the right influences, such men have usually been popular while in office, and, retiring, have carried with them the confidence and esteem of their fellow-citizens.

An illustration of this is found in the present Mayor of San Francisco, who has been for twenty years the head of one of her first commercial houses. Mr. Selby was born and educated in New York city. He was for some time a clerk with A. T. Stewart, having entered that establishment at the same time with the afterwards celebrated Cyrus W. Field. At the age of nineteen he was elected, after an exciting campaign, a director of the Mercantile

Library Association, of which he and his young friend Field were members.

On attaining his majority he commenced business for himself, in New York, and at twenty-five was a partner in an establishment with upwards of forty employés. After a few years the house, yielding to the financial pressure of that period, suspended; and its affairs having been temporarily arranged, Mr. Selby, taking upon himself the entire burthen of its debts, joined the tide of humanity then setting towards the Pacific Coast, with the sole and avowed object of paying off the liabilities of the firm.

Animated by this laudable purpose, the young man landed in San Francisco in August, 1849, and true to his resolve he devoted the proceeds of his business to settling up the indebtedness. The profits of three years of lucrative speculation and trade were thus consumed. Like thousands of others, he had originally intended to return as soon as this obligation had been fulfilled; but, as it became evident that San Francisco was destined to be one of the world's emporiums-a grand commercial centre, with every inducement for a permanent locationhe decided to cast his lot in California. In the summer of 1850 he erected a substantial brick building-still standing on the north side of California street, near Montgomery, which was one of the earliest of its kind in the city and attracted much attention at that time as a costly novelty in architecture. Here he established the present house of Thomas H. Selby & Co., and commenced the importation of metals and merchandise, which he has followed until the present time, under the same name and style, in connection with his New York partner, Mr. P. Naylor. One of the most active members of the First Presbyterian Society of San Francisco, he was especially influential in building their church on Stockton street, near Broadway, which was commenced in the fall of 1850. Services had originally been held in a tent, the Rev. Albert Williams officiating. The edifice, completed early in 1851, was destroyed by the great fire of that year, and was rebuilt in the same place. Many of the

leading members, Mr. Selby among them, withdrew subsequently and built the well known Calvary Church, on Bush street, which in turn has disappeared before the march of improvement. His own building was in the desolating track of the fire of 1851, but was saved by the exertions of Mr. Selby, who, with a few others, shut himself up there, and fought the destroyer with water obtained from a well dug in the basement for just such an emergency. For some time the iron shutters were red hot, and the party would fain have escaped from their perilous position had it been possible; but by the courage of desperation the building was preserved, and the whirlwind of flame passed on.

The preferences of Mr. Selby have usually been averse to politics; but nevertheless, his great personal popularity and evident availability have repeatedly been made use of to draw him into public life, though always against his own earnest protest. In each instance he has been triumphantly elected, and has filled the requirements of the position with the same conscientious fidelity that has ever characterized his actions. The one objection that his friends could name was, that prior to election, he invariably retired from active participation in the contest, and left the issue with the public, shunning all contact with politicians, and failing to exert even the legitimate amount of electioneering influence sanctioned by political usage. His tastes, avoiding the thankless turmoil of public office, leaned rather to the quiet of private life, and the rivalries of trade and commercial pursuits.

In April, 1851, he was elected Assistant Alderman of the Fifth Ward, and took his seat in the Board a few days after the conflagration above mentioned. member of the Common Council, his name appears on many committees, and the record shows that he was one of the most industrious members of the Board. By the terms of the new City Charter, then lately gone into operation, the officers chosen at the annual election in September of that year, were installed soon after; Mayor Brenham giving place to Dr. Harris, and the old Board vacating for the newly elected one, by decision of the

Supreme Court, thus limiting their official term to about six months.

Released from public duties, Mr. Selby gladly returned to his more legitimate business; from which retirement he was again brought forth in the fall of the following year; when, against his strongest protestations, he was nominated as Alderman of the Fifth Ward, and was, of course, elected by a great majority. He was at that time an "Old Line Whig," belonging to a party of glorious memories, including in its numbers the most illustrious men of America, but destined, after the defeat of Scott and the death of Clay and Webster, to decline and disappear; many of its adherents, like Mr. Selby, eventually joining the Democracy and imparting a leaven of strength and patriotism to that organization. Mr. Selby's name appeared on nearly all the tickets in the campaign of 1852-the "Regular Whig," the "Independent Whig," the "People's Favorite," the "Independent," and the "Union," (the latter composed about equally of Whigs and Democrats.) National, State, county and city candidates, from President and Vice-President down to the smallest local officers, were on the same ticket, and were voted for together. In San Francisco alone there were eighty-seven offices to be filled, and for these there were one hundred and eighty candidates in the field. Seven out of eight wards returned Whig Aldermen―a noteworthy fact, considering that the State and county went Democratic-the incoming Legislature having a majority for that party of thirty-four on joint ballot. This result in the election of local officers was due to the great number who voted the Independent ticket; and when, years afterwards, a similar influence elected Mr. Selby to the Mayoralty, it furnished the second instance of his having been chosen to office by a spontaneous popular movement.

On the 12th of November, 1852, the new government was duly installed, with C. J. Brenham-elected for the second time-as Mayor. The previous City Council had the summer before purchased the Jenny Lind theatre (the present City Hall) in defiance of the wishes of the people and the veto of Mayor Harris; and the incoming