William Edwin Ensor (1881-1931) was a Maryland native who came to San Francisco with his wife, the former Mary Agnes Lewis (1874-1961). It was just after the 1906 earthquake, and concrete work was abundant. By 1911 they’d moved permanently to 2708 Tenth Street, Berkeley. They had eight children; their son Charles was also a concrete worker. He and Mary are buried at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito.
In Berkeley he worked at first for the Esterly Construction Company, then later at the Navy yard on Mare Island. His concrete business is first recorded in the 1926 directory, but his sidewalk stamp first appeared in 1922.
I have recorded Ensor’s horseshoe stamp with dates from 1922 to 1931. His nephew Ensor H. Buel adopted the same format for his stamp. He also drew a mark by hand, a rectangle with “ENSOR” inside in large, blocky letters.
Oakland Underfoot 
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