William S. O'Brien

William S. O'Brien (1825 – May 2, 1878) was an American businessman who formed a business partnership with fellow Irishmen James Graham Fair, James C. Flood, and John William Mackay, the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company. The four dealt in mining stocks and operated silver mines on the Comstock Lode, and in 1873 discovered the great orebody known as the "Big Bonanza" in the Consolidated Virginia and California Mine, an orebody more than 1,200 feet deep, which yielded in March of that year as much as $632 per ton, and in 1877 nearly $190,000,000 altogether. The four-way partnership, although formally called "Flood and O'Brien," was more commonly known as the Bonanza firm. Together they also established the Bank of Nevada in San Francisco, California.

For other people named William O'Brien, see William O'Brien (disambiguation).
William Shoney O'Brien
Born1825
Abbeyleix, Ireland[1]
DiedMay 2, 1878 (aged 52–53)
San Rafael, California
Resting placeHoly Cross Cemetery, Colma (reinterred from San Francisco's Calvary Cemetery)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSaloonkeeper, stockbroker, partner in Comstock Lode mines
OrganizationFlood & O'Brien
Consolidated Virginia Mining Company
Bank of Nevada
Known forBeing one of the "Bonanza Kings"
Net worthUSD $12 million at the time of his death (approximately 1/696 of US GNP)[2]

He is considered to have been one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune.[2] He died of Bright's disease.[3]

References
  1. Denslow, William R.; Truman, Harry S. (1957), 10,000 Famous Freemasons, III, Trenton, Missouri: Missouri Lodge of Research, p. 280, ISBN 978-1-4179-7579-2, OCLC 11337271, retrieved 2011-07-30
  2. Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates—A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, p. xii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
  3. "THE LATE W. S. O'BRIEN", The New York Times, New York, New York, May 12, 1878

William S. O'Brien at Find a Grave


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