Reuben Rickard

Reuben Rickard (August 20, 1841 – February 28, 1896) was a mining engineer who served as President of the Town Board of Trustees in Berkeley, California from 1891 to 1893, and again for about one month during 1895.

Rickard was born in England in 1841. He married Mary Elizabeth Humphreys October 3, 1863. They had six children, three of whom died young. Rickard was hired by John Taylor and Sons of London to oversee their mining and metallurgical operations in Pontgibaud, France in the 1860s. In 1875, the Rickard family emigrated to the United States as Reuben had been hired to manage the operations of the Richmond Mining Company in Eureka, Nevada. He worked there six years before taking on another job inspecting mines for English investors throughout the western U.S. and Mexico. The family finally settled in Berkeley, California on July 24, 1882.

Reuben's wife died of tuberculosis on March 28, 1895 in Central City, Colorado.

Reuben Rickard died in 1896 from dysentery while inspecting a mining project near Perth in Western Australia.

His son Thomas Rickard also served as President of the Town Board of Trustees from 1903 to 1909. Another son, Edgar Rickard was a close lifelong friend of President Herbert Hoover. His daughter Leontine married William Bowditch Fisher on March 11, 1896. Reuben had a brother Alfred Rickard who was also a mining engineer based in Denver, Colorado, and a nephew Thomas Arthur Rickard who was a prominent writer on the subject of mining.

References

• Berkeley Gazette, Feb.29, Mar.3, 9, 11, 12, Apr.21, May 12, 1896
• Thomas Rickard Obituary
• Mining Superintendent Rickard, Republic Mine, Colorado
• US Census, Nevada 1880