Birka Binnard, 1869-1942
Birka5 Binnard (Abram4,
Moziek3, Jakob2, Lewin1) was born 12 June 1869[1]
in Lewiston, Idaho.[2] He
was raised in Lewiston and attended school through the eighth grade.[3]
By 1893 had left home to live in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a
clerk.[4]
A few years later Birka moved to Butte, Montana. There he married Augusta "Gussie" Allender on 27 May 1897.[5] Gussie was born 8 March 1878[6] at Midway, Ohio.[7] The marriage certificate states her parents were George Allender and Lydia M. Peek. Judge William Clancy officiated at the wedding ceremony and Birka’s cousins, Abraham and Aaron S. Binnard, signed as witnesses.[8] Birka and Gussie remained in Butte for the next 10 years. In 1899 the city directory lists his occupation as real estate, with office and residence at 73 Owsley Block.[9] For a short time he was in business with Sewell Davis, but by February 1902 they had dissolved the partnership.[10] According to the 1906 Butte directory, Birka resided at 172-173 Pennsylvania Block. The Binnard Realty Company, dealing in real estate and mines, was located nearby at 1 West Broadway.[11] By 1908 he had moved to New York City.[12] There he became secretary of the Butte & New York Copper Company.[13] The company, incorporated in South Dakota in 1906, owned shares in 31 mining claims in Montana.[14] Birka formed B. Binnard & Co., located at 42 Broadway in Manhattan,[15] and invested in various mines in the west. In 1910 he was president of the Radersburg Consolidated Mining Company, a holding corporation. It controlled the Ohio-Keating Gold Mining Company and the Dewdrop Mining Company of Radersburg, Montana and the Manhattan-California Gold Mining Company in Eldorado County, California.[16] In 1910, with his brother Isaac representing him at the sale, he purchased the Center Star group of mines located on the south fork of the Clearwater River near Elk City, Idaho. The sales price was $100,000.[17] Another project in which Birka had an interest was the Rocher de Boule mine in Hazelton, British Columbia. In 1913 he was sued by C.R. Nickey, who claimed Birka had pressured him to buy $6,000 worth of stock. After examining the mine, Nickey came to believe the stock was worthless and sued to get his money back.[18] The defense countered that “not once did Mr. Binnard solicit Mr. Nickey to buy any of the stock” and that “Mr. Nickey gave him no rest, but pursued him even to his bedroom at night with his importuning,” and even "begged Mrs. Binnard to use her influence with her husband in his behalf” to allow him to purchase shares.[19] The newspaper reported that “a good many mining men and experts were included in the long list of witnesses. The majority of them testified that in their opinion the mine has merit.”[20] The jury’s verdict was unanimously in favor of Binnard.[21] Other mines in which Birka had an interest over the years included the Wadems ore body in Bannack, Montana;[22] the Walker mines in Plumas County, California, which he sold for $630,000 in 1918;[23] the North Goldfield Mining Company in Goldfield, California;[24] and the Way Up mine in Powell County, Montana.[25] Birka did well in the mining business. In 1912 the Anaconda Standard reported that he had purchased the Will house on East Broadway in Butte for nearly $50,000.[26] (According to the website US Inflation Calculator, an item costing $50,000 in 1913 would be worth over $1.1 million in 2013.) At about the same time he bought a stock ranch in Fremont County, Idaho, about 50 miles from Idaho Falls.[27] In early 1915, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Mr. and Mrs. Birka Binnard moved from Butte to Salt Lake City. “The move has made for greater convenience to Mr. Binnard in looking after his irrigation and mining interests,” the paper explained. They bought a house on Thirteenth East Street from Frank B. Stephens.[28] After almost 20 years of marriage a daughter, Bonita, was born to them on 29 December 1916.[29] While residing in Salt Lake City, Birka invested in and became a director of the Merchants Bank, which was placed in receivership in 1918. He brought suit against the bank and the receiver claiming the officers had sold him the stock while knowing that the bank was insolvent and the stock worthless.[30] The receiver sued Birka and 28 other directors of the bank "to recover $800,000 alleged to have been lost through mismanagement." The Salt Lake Telegram reported in 1920 that a settlement had been reached with 27 of the directors. It was expected that a settlement would be reached with the remaining two, A.O. Jacobson of Nevada and B. Binnard, who was "forced to make a trip from Texas to Salt Lake in order to confer with the receiver in regard to the case."[31] The Binnards were residing in Fort Worth at the time the Merchants Bank case was being settled and Birka was dealing in oil leases.[32] Their household at 1509 Sunset Avenue included a private nurse and two servants.[33] By 1921 they had moved to Southern California, where they resided in South Pasadena. Birka’s occupation was categorized in the city directory as “investments.” His office was located at 354 South Spring in Los Angeles.[34] A passenger list for the port of Los Angeles shows that he and his wife and daughter voyaged to Honolulu on the S.S. City of Los Angeles in 1926.[35] Gussie died in Los Angeles on 27 January 1942.[36] Less than six months later, on 16 Jun 1942, Birka passed away. His obituary states that his resting place is Rose Hill Cemetery.[37] _________________________ [1] "California, Death Index, 1940-1997," index, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPD9-MS2 : accessed 12 Oct 2012), Birka Binnard, 1942; citing California Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Section, Sacramento, California. [2] "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," index and mages, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F33S-GXS : accessed 07 Feb 2013), Birka Binnard and Augusta Allender, 1897. [3] 1940 U.S. census, 58 Assembly District, Block 18, Ward 4, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, enumeration district 297, sheet 4B, household 103, entry for Birka Binnard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 October 2012); citing NARA microfilm T627, roll 401. [4] Spokane City Directory, 1893 (Spokane, Washington: R.L. Polk & Co., 1893), 201. [5] "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," Birka Binnard and Augusta Allender, 1897. [6] "California, Death Index, 1940-1997," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPVY-1CV : accessed 08 Feb 2013), Gussie Binnard, 1942; citing California Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Section, Sacramento, California. [7] "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," Birka Binnard and Augusta Allender, 1897. Gussie's mother's obituary gives her maiden name as McPeek: “Obituary,” Cambridge Jeffersonian, 28 December 1905, p. 5. [8] "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," Birka Binnard and Augusta Allender, 1897. [9] R. L. Polk & Co.'s Butte City Directory, 1899 (Butte, Montana; R.L. Polk & Co., 1899), 103, 537. [10] "Notice of Dissolution," Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), 5 February 1902, p. 7. [11] R.L. Polk & Co's Butte City Directory for the Year Commencing May 1st 1906 (Butte, Montana: R.L. Polk & Co., 1906), 151. [12] Ibid, (1908), 142. [13] Keep This Book : All Messages Sent You Will Be in Code : You Are Requested to Use This Code in Sending Telegrams (New York: Charles A. Stoneham & Co., [1910], 162. [14] Myron L. Weil, The A B C and Manual of the Curb Market: a book of Ready Reference Devoted Exclusively to Companies Whose Securities Are Dealt in on the New York Curb Market (New York: M.L. Weil, 1908) p. 39. [15] Trow's General Directory of the Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, City of New York, Vol. CXXIV for the Year Ending August 1, 1911 (New York: Trow Directory and Bookbinding company, 1910), 129. [16] “Radersburg Shows Surprising Changes", Anaconda Standard, 10 July 1910, p. 3. [17] “Elk City Mines Sold,” Idaho Statesman, 5 March 1910, p. 2. [18] “Urged by Friend Purchased Stock,” Anaconda Standard, 11 December 1913, p. 7. [19] “Pursued Binnard Even to Bedroom,” Anaconda Standard, 12 December 1913, p. 9 [20] “Unanimous Verdict for the Defendant,” Anaconda Standard, 19 December 1913, p. 7. [21] Ibid. [22] “Wadams Ore Body Shows Improvement,” Salt Lake Tribune, 13 April 1915, p. 8. [23] "Binnard Takes Mine Lease in Montana Field," Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1935, p. 15. [24] “Buscaglia Claim Called Promising,” Reno Evening Gazette, 21 September 1928, p. 16. [25] "Binnard Takes Mine Lease in Montana Field," Los Angeles Times, 10 June 1935, p. 15. [26] "Butte Current Notes," Anaconda Standard, 21 June 1912, p. 7. [27] “In Livestock Business,” Lewiston Morning Tribune, 11 March 1913, p. 3. [28] "Society," Salt Lake Tribune, 19 January 1915, p. 5. [29] Bonita's birthdate and birthplace are given in a 1926 ship's passenger list: "Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii, August 1912-November 1954," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestrycom : accessed 10 February 2013), entry for Bonita Binnard, arrived Honolulu, Hawaii, 10 December 1926, on the City of Los Angeles. [30] "Director of Bank Sues Receiver," Salt Lake Telegram, 28 October 1918, p. 6. [31] "Merchants Bank Case Postponed," Salt Lake Telegram, 9 June 1920, p. 13. [32] Fort Worth City Directory 1920 (Dallas? Texas: R.L. Polk & Co., 1920), 523. [33] 1920 U.S. census, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, enumeration district 111, sheet 7A, dwelling 145, family 210, entry for Birka Binnard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 February 2013); National Archives microfilm T625, roll 1849. [34] Los Angeles Directory Co's Los Angeles City Directory Including San Pedro, Wilmington, Palms, Van Nuys and Owensmouth (Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles Directory Company, 1921), 549, 2900. [35] "Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii, August 1912-November 1954," entries for Birka, Augusta, and Bonita Binnard. [36] "California, Death Index, 1940-1997," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPVY-1CV : accessed 08 Feb 2013), Gussie Binnard, 1942; citing California Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Section, Sacramento, California. [37] "Birka Binnard," Los Angeles Times, 19 June 1942, p. 18. |