Thomas Oliver Larkin was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts back in 1802 to Thomas and Ann. When he was 15 he went to Boston to apprentice as a bookbinder. In 1821, he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina where he worked as a clerk. In 1825, he opened a store in Duplin, North Carolina.
He moved again to San Francisco in 1832. He built the first two-story house in California, it’s still standing at the Monterey State Historic Park. He also built the first wharf at Monterey harbor. He acquired several land grants around Rancho Jimeno, Rancho Boga, Rancho Cienega del Rabilan, Rancho Pleyto and Rancho Cotate. In 1858, he contracted typhoid fever and died within a week.
What you may not know about Thomas is that he was appointed to be the United States first and only consul to Mexican Alta California and was a signer of the original California Constitution.
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