Prince Andre Poniatowski

http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00017828&tree=LEO

When Louis Leopold Charles Marie Andre Poniatowski Prince was born on 24 January 1864, in Paris, Seine, France, his father, Stanislas Auguste Frédéric Poniatowski Prince, was 28 and his mother, Louise Leopoldine A. T. C. Le Hon, was 25. He married Elizabeth Helen Sperry on 6 October 1894, in Paris, Île-de-France, France. They were the parents of at least 5 sons. He lived in Judicial Township 2, San Mateo, California, United States in 1900. He died on 8 March 1954, in Les Bories, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, France, at the age of 90.

Seeking investment opportunities in America, the prince came to San Francisco and formed a syndicate to rework old Mother Lode gold mines, using more modern methods. To get transportation to the mines, he backed railroad builder Thomas S. Bullock in the construction of the Sierra Railway, and to get electric power, his group financed construction of the Blue Lakes Powerhouse on the Mokelumne. Prince Poniatowski saw the vast hydro potential of this river. With his brother-in-law, William H. Crocker, he formed the Standard Electric Co. in 1897 to build Electra Powerhouse. He dreamed of bringing power to San Francisco, 143 miles away - requiring longer transmission at higher voltage than had ever then been attempted.

In addition to their railway, mining and power interests, the prince and Crocker built Tanforan race track near the prince's Sky Farm residence in Burlingame.

In 1904 having sold his interests, he returned to France with his family.