Leland Stanford (1824-1893)
Co-Founder of the Central Pacific Railroad; U.S. Senator & Governor of California
He was the founder of Stanford University, named for his only son who died in childhood. His 50-room, 41,000-square foot mansion (see images) built in 1875 at 905 California Street in San Francisco was one of the city's showpieces in the 19th century, as were those of the others of the "Big Four": Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins.
