The Family -- January 27, 2014

This plaque, at Commercial and Montgomery Streets, marks the 100th anniversary of the 05-April-1902 founding of The Family, a private men's club.  Members of the Bohemian Club withdrew to protest the activities of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, particularly the publishing of a poem by Ambrose Bierce about the assassination of Kentucky Governor William Goebel:

The bullet that pierced Goebel's breast
Can not be found in all the West;
Good reason, it is speeding here
To stretch McKinley on his bier.

Many people felt that Bierce and Hearst had called for the assassination of President William McKinley.  After McKinley was assassinated, a number of Bohemian Club members quit and formed The Family. 

The Family meets at Powell and Post and has The Family Farm in Woodside.  The Family has several charitable interests.