Selim Franklin

Selim Franklin, Esquire (1814–1885) was an American pioneer, auctioneer, real estate agent, chess master, and Canadian legislator. Selim is listed in the Pioneer Club of San Francisco and The Society of California Pioneers. Franklin Street in San Francisco is most likely named for him.

Born in Liverpool into an English-Jewish family, he was a son of Lewis Franklin, a Liverpool banker, and Miriam Abraham. He emigrated from England to San Francisco for the California Gold Rush in October 1849. He was joined by brother Edward and cousins Lewis and Maurice Franklin. Another brother Lumley Franklin arrived in 1854. In 1850 Selim and Edward Franklin ran a zinc-front store on Clay Street Wharf selling mining equipment and supplies. In 1851 they established Selim & Edward Franklin Real Estate and Auctioneers on 77 Battery Street near Long Wharf. Advertisements of properties appeared in The Daily Alta California newspaper. In 1854 they relocated to 102 Merchant Street between Montgomery and Kearny.

Selim and brother Edward built the Franklin House at 203-205 Sansome in 1852. The Annals of San Francisco (1855) lists the Franklin House as one of five more upscale hotels in the city. Permanent residents included physicians, attorneys and a judge. Cousins Lewis and Maurice Franklin relocated to San Diego and built the Franklin House there in 1855, the first three-story building in Southern California.

In 1858 he moved to Victoria, British Columbia, with his brother Lumley Franklin and opened Franklin & Company, Auctioneers and Land Agents on Yates Street. Franklin & Company ran full-page ads in the daily newspaper, The British Colonist, to list items for auction: real estate, furniture, cattle, and vehicles. Because they were British-born, they were appointed by Governor James Douglas as the first government auctioneers in Victoria and British Columbia. Selim was an advisor to Queen Victoria in the 1859 Oregon boundary dispute over the San Juan Islands.

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