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Spreckels was born in Charleston, South Carolina, US
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Spreckels attended Oakland College and then the Polytechnic College in Hanover, Germany, where he studied chemistry and mechanical engineering.
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He returned to California and began working for his father, Claus Spreckels, who had grown extremely wealthy in the sugar business.
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John Diedrich Spreckels married Lillie Siebein in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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His first child was born
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Second child
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With $2 million in capital, he organized J. D. Spreckels and Brothers, a company to establish a trade between the mainland United States and the Hawaiian Islands
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Third child
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Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht Lurline to stock up on supplies. Impressed by the real estate boom then taking place, he invested in the construction of a wharf and coal bunkers at the foot of Broadway (then called "D" Street). That boom ended soon but Spreckels' interest in San Diego would last for the rest of his life.
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Fourth and last child
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He bought The San Diego Union newspaper.
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He bought the San Diego street railway system, changing it from horse power to electricity.
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He bought the San Diego Evening Tribune newspaper.
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He moved into his new mansion on Glorietta Boulevard in Coronado
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The company also engaged in limited freight handling primarily as an interchange with Spreckels' San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A)
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Spreckels died in San Diego, California, US