Francis I. duPont & Co. Genealogy: Part XI
William R. Staats & Co. Ford Motor Company Syndicate #76 Founded 1888*, Pasadena, California Origins William R. Staats (1867-1928) was the descendant of Major Abraham Staats (1618-1683), a Dutch immigrant who came to the New World in 1642, and the son of a minister. In 1886, Staats traveled to Pasadena, CA from his home in Glastonbury, CT. Just 19 years old, Staats had been suffering from a lung illness for three years and had tried and failed to regain his health in Florida. His parents were advised by Dr. Alfred Loomis, a New York lung specialist, that he might survive his illness if he made it to California. Staat's former teacher at the Wesleyan Academy (MA), Prof. Charles M. Parker, had traveled to California to recover his own health and had settled in Pasadena. With the financial assistance of his father's congregation, Staats made the journey to Pasadena and boarded with a Mr. Meharry, who was secretary of the Lake Vineyard Land and Water Company at which Parke...