Leland Stanford

Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824 – June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1885 until his death in 1893. Stanford and his wife Jane founded Stanford University, named after their late son. Stanford became a successful merchant and wholesaler after migrating to California in 1852 during the gold rush; he built a business empire.