Peter Donahue

Born in Glasgow, Scotland of Northern Irish parents, his family moved to Paterson, New Jersey when he and his brothers were young. It was there that they learned the trade of machinists.

In December 1847, Donahue helped deliver a gunboat, the Rimac (which he had helped construct at the Brown and Bell foundry) to the Peruvian government, arriving in Callao in July 1848. It was during his time in Peru that he heard of gold being discovered in California, and booked passage on the Pacific Mail steamship Oregon, bound for San Francisco.

In 1849, after several unproductive months in the gold fields, and after hearing rumors that his younger brother James was in California, Peter returned to San Francisco, where he found his brother James running a modest blacksmith's shop at First and Mission Streets. Together with their brother Michael (who arrived some months later), they gradually expanded their forge into a foundry (which became known as the Union Iron Works).

In 1852, with supplies and financial backing from his contacts in Paterson, New Jersey, and with the approval of city authorities, Donahue founded the San Francisco Gas Company, a forerunner of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.