Elcan Heydenfeldt
Values Codes I – E
Elcan Heydenfeldt (1821-1898) was born in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age of twenty, he left to study law in Alabama with his older brother Solomon Heydenfeldt.
San Francisco
In 1849, Elcan relocated to San Francisco, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1850, California held its first election as a U.S. state and Elcan won a seat in the California senate as a member of the Whig Party.
In 1851, Elcan was re-elected and his senate colleagues chose him as president pro tempore.
Elcan left the senate in 1852 and won a seat in the lower legislative house, the California assembly.
He resigned from that seat in 1853 and won it back later that year in a special election to fill the vacancy he had created.
Elcan Heydenfeldt left political office in 1853 for private law practice.
Artist’s View of San Francisco Bay, 1949 Postcard
Source
- Mark Rutzik, Breaking New Ground: The Untold Story of Early America’s Jewish Electoral Pioneers – 1788 to 1920, 2025.
Mark Rutzick is the curator of this Elcan Heydenfeldt exhibit.
