Quick Facts
Biography
Samuel Purdy (1819 – February 17, 1882) was the third Lieutenant Governor of California, 1852-1856. He ran for office as a Democrat. He also became the first mayor of Stockton, California, in 1850.
Purdy was born in New York City in 1819. He was educated as an architect and moved west later in life, arriving in California in 1849. Following his tenure as Lieutenant-Governor, Purdy continued to hold various public offices in California, at both the state level and locally, including Inspector of Revenue for the state and Superintendent of Construction in San Francisco.
Purdy was married and had several children, though he was a widower at the time of his death. One of his sons was General Erastus Sparrow Purdy, who died in Cairo in 1881. Samuel Purdy died on February 17, 1882 in San Francisco.