George Hearst (September 3 1820 - February 28 1891) was a wealthy American businessman and United States Senator, and the father of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst.
Born near Sullivan, Missouri to William G. and Elizabeth (nee Collins) Hearst, he attended public school and graduated from the Franklin County Mining School in 1838 as well as receiving some home schooling from his mother, which later in life Mr. Hearst related as his most valuable learning experience. Nevertheless, he is remembered as "almost illiterate" with a taste for poker, bourbon, and tobacco. When his father died in 1844, George took over the farm and the care of his mother and his brother and sister. In addition, he did some mining and ran a general store.
Hearst first heard of the discovery of gold in California in 1849. Before deciding to depart, he continued to read further news on the subject so that he could be more certain it was true. Finally, in 1850, as a member of a party of 16, he left for California (according to some reports, he walked the entire way). After arriving in 1850, he and his companions first tried placer mining in the vicinity of Sutter's Mill on the American River. After spending a cold winter and making meager finds, they moved to Grass Valley on the news of a new lode. Using his mining education and experience in Missouri, George switched to prospecting and dealing in quartz mines. After almost ten years, Hearst was making a decent living as a prospector, and otherwise engaged in running a general store, mining, stock raising and farming in Nevada County.
As head of Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co., he had interests in the Comstock Lode and the Ophir mine in Nevada, the Ontario silver mine in Utah, the Homestake gold mine in South Dakota (his pursuit of which is dramatized in the fictional HBO television series Deadwood), and the Anaconda copper mine in Montana. (He later invested in the Cerro de Pasco Mine in Peru.) The company grew to be the largest private mining firm in the United States. Hearst acquired the reputation of being the most expert prospector and judge of mining property on the Pacific coast, and contributed to the development of the modern processes of quartz and other kinds of mining. Another of his holdings, that his son insisted on taking control of, was the San Francisco Examiner, which became the foundation of the Hearst publishing empire.
He returned to Missouri in 1860 in order to care for his ailing mother. During this time, he became reacquainted with a younger neighbor, a girl of 18, who the 40-year-old Hearst soon married. In 1862 Hearst and his new bride, Phoebe Apperson, moved to San Francisco. Phoebe gave birth to their only child, William Randolph Hearst, in 1863. Hearst was a member of the California State Assembly from 1865 until 1866, one of 12 members representing San Francisco. During this time (1865) he acquired the 48,000-acre (194 km²) Piedras Blancas Ranch at San Simeon, California. He later bought the adjoining ranches, and this land eventually became the site of the famed Hearst Castle.
He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of California in 1882.
He was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John F. Miller, and served from March 23 1886 to August 4 1886, when a successor was elected. In 1887 he was elected to the Senate as a Democrat and served from March 4 1887 until his death, aged 70, in Washington, D.C. in 1891.
He is buried with his wife and son in Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California. The Hearst Memorial Mining Building is dedicated to his memory.
