![]() Shortly after their marriage in 1855, Thomas and Anna returned to San Diego. ![]() Whaley set up various businesses with Franklin, Ephraim Morse, Francis Hinton, and even his brother, Henry, and amassed enough money to return to New York to marry his sweetheart, Anna Eloise DeLaunay, the daughter of French-born parents, on May 14, 1853. After an arson-set fire destroyed his buildings on Montgomery Street in May 1851, he relocated to Old Town San Diego on the advice of Lewis Franklin, a merchant who operated stores in San Francisco and Old Town. Thomas Whaley capitalized on his success by establishing his own store on Montgomery Street. Whaley’s entrepreneurial spirit and sharp business acumen, acquired in part from his education at the Washington Institute, helped him flourish in San Francisco. He married Rachel Pye, whose father, William, manufactured locks in Brooklyn. Thomas’ father, Thomas Whaley, carried on the family gunsmith business, and served in the New York Militia during the War of 1812. During the Revolutionary War, he provided flintlock muskets for soldiers and the use of his house on Long Island by General George Washington. Alexander Whaley, Thomas’ great-grandfather, was a gunsmith and participated in the Boston Tea Party. Born on October 5, 1823, the young entrepreneur came from a Scots-Irish family, which immigrated to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1722. It was there where he sold hardware and woodwork from his family’s New York business, Pye & Whaley, as well as offering mining equipment and utensils on consignment. Upon arrival, he set up a store with George Wardle on Montgomery Street in San Francisco. Thomas Whaley arrived in California around 1849, during the famous California Gold Rush. In the years that followed, most members of the Whaley family returned to live and eventually die in their original family home, including Francis who passed away one year after his mother Anna, in 1913. After moving in, Francis set about restoring the property and entertaining tourists by playing his guitar and telling stories about the house’s background. Abandoned for close to 20 years, the Whaley House was neglected and in poor condition until Francis Whaley, their eldest son, decided to go back in 1909. In 1890, Thomas Whaley passed away in their new home on State Street, never to return to the original Whaley estate. Another tragic event, the violent suicide of Violet, one of the Whaley daughters, moved Thomas to build a new home in downtown San Diego and relocate his family. In fact, the Whaley family told the San Diego Union shortly after moving in that they heard heavy footsteps in the house, which they believed to be the ghost of James “Yankee Jim” Robinson, who had earlier been hanged on the property for stealing a boat. Unfortunately, tragedy continued to strike the Whaley family while they lived in the home leading to an increase in reported paranormal activity. Despite threats of armed resistance from the Old Towners, the records were moved on March 31, 1871, effectively shifting the focus of the city to New Town.Īlthough the Whaley House was a communal treasure, it served primarily as the residential home for Thomas Whaley and his family. New Towners demanded that the county offices and records be moved to New Town. Whaley offered several times to sell the house to the county, but the offer was ignored. The San Diego County government had been renting a portion of Whaley House for its offices and records. The home became such an integral part of the community that it was later the focal point in a battle between Old Town residents and New Town residents. Besides being the Whaley family home, it was also San Diego’s first commercial theater, the county courthouse, and a general store. Furnished with mahogany and rosewood furniture, Brussels carpets, and damask drapes, the Whaley House was overwhelmingly praised as “the first of its kind and finest home in Southern California.”įrom 1869 through 1871, the Whaley House became the gathering place for the entire San Diego community. The house was the first of its kind and cost more than $10,000 when completed. On May 6, 1856, Thomas Whaley began construction of his new home and proclaimed “My new house, when completed, will be the handsomest, most comfortable and convenient place in town or within 150 miles of here.” The two-story Greek Revival house was designed by Thomas Whaley and made from bricks created in Whaley’s very own brickyard on Conde Street.
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